Rival's Daughter
by charlotteclements
Summary: Really? Four monsters at once? Getting to Camp Half-Blood would be harder than first imagined for this 'daughter of freaks'. But Katrina had a mission: deliver a message and then, well, she hadn't figured that part out yet. Riordan's world with a twist after the BoO story. Percy, the gang, and now Katrina have to save the world... again.
1. Chapter 1

It was basically a zoo. I think it stated in their prophecy that I would come to them while fighting the same beast my father did, but did the minotaur have to be accompanied by a fury, a gryphon, and a rogue telkhine?

Seriously, what kind of a combination is that?

The monsters were hideously noisy, but despite their differences, worked pretty well as a team. I had been facing monsters all week. I mean, I'm a demigod, what else is new? But the last few days have been non-stop. Unfortunately, that was the sign I had been waiting for.

The telkhine wasn't an immediate threat. It was slow and waddled behind the rest of the group as I was being chased. The fury was the most annoying; the gross thing wouldn't stop screaming. I ran a bit further, constantly checking behind me to watch the fury's movements. As the bird-woman dove down for an attack, I spun around onto my knees and held my sword out in front of me. The fury didn't see it coming and flew toward the blade head on. She was sliced in half, sending putrid yellow dust everywhere. Quickly ducking, I rolled under the passing legs of the minotaur, appearing behind it, bracing for a side attack from the gryphon who stood with talons ready to kill. I side-stepped the first swipe and caught the beast upside the head with my blade. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to do more than scratch it. Gods I hated these things. The gryphon screeched, and I did not hesitate to thrust my blade down the creature's open beak. Once yellow dust replaced that space, I turned to face the minotaur, who had begun to realize that the demigod he was chasing was no longer in front of him.

I breathed heavily, consumed with exhaustion. I have gotten in a lot of practice these past few years, but really, four monsters at once? Was I ever going to catch a break? The first two fights had worn me out, and my patience was growing thin. Becoming aware of the telkhine finally showing up to the party, I flipped the handle of my sword and thrusted it behind me, ending the telkhine's life with a squeal. This was it. Just me and the minotaur. I had always heard legends of my father, but no one had bothered to tell me how he defeated this ugly thing.

The minotaur charged and I side-stepped him. That was easy enough. He charged again, this time I threw in a shank for good measure, but the blade bounced off his armor like it had hit a lamppost. Have you ever tried to cut into a lamppost? Don't. It doesn't work. I sighed heavily. This time I made the first move, but before I could get close enough to do anything, the minotaur swatted me away like a fly. The landing was not smooth. Clutching my stomach, I started to get up, but the beast was on me again, picking me up and slamming me into the ground. _Anaklusmos II_ flew out of my hand and landed more than fifteen feet away. My head was throbbing with an immeasurable pain and it was becoming difficult to breathe. I attempted to crawl towards my sword, but the minotaur guessed my motives. Picking me up once again, he threw me against a large tree. The impact was harsh, and I slumped down at the base of it. I managed to look over my shoulder at the large pine tree at the crest of the hill. If only I could make it past that tree. Finally, I turned my attention toward the more pressing issue at hand. Looking up, I saw exactly what I needed.

The minotaur advanced slowly, and my head fell to my chest. I was losing strength. The creature walked up to me triumphantly and ducked to fit its tall stature underneath the boughs of the pine. Just a little closer, I thought.

Finally, the beast reared his head and moaned in victory, when suddenly he found his mouth filled with a buzzing fog. This fog was no ordinary fog. In fact, it was a large swarm of raging bees. The uncomfortable stinging filled his lungs and burned his eyes as he backed out from underneath the tree. I rose to my feet and reached into my pocket, pulling out a bronze owl feather. I carved an _A_ into the air, and the feather transformed into a leather bound sword. The second Riptide.

Exhausted and covered in bruises, open wounds, and blistering bee stings, I ran out from underneath the tree and confronted the minotaur, who was preoccupied with the hive lodged down his throat. With one powerful thrust, I pushed the sword into an exposed area on his side, screaming with anger and frustration, and did not remove it until the air glowed with dust. The beehive fell softly to the ground.

I collapsed onto the dust covered ground and was assaulted by the massive fog of stingers. _Anaklusmos II_ reverted back to its feather form and found a place in my pocket once more. The trip up the hill would have been a piece of cake if all that had just happened hadn't actually happen. Instead, it took all of my strength to crawl through the wall of black and yellow bugs and work my way up the hill. I barely reached the top when the edges of my vision blurred black and the world around me disappeared.

...

When I woke up, I heard voices. I couldn't pick it all up but they were most definitely talking about me. "Saw her do it." "Killed a minotaur."

The voices came from outside. I was in a small, cabin-like room, lying down in a bed with heavy covers despite the hot summer weather. The room was normal enough. It could have even been someone's bedroom. Or at least I was pretty sure it could've been. I didn't quite know what a normal teenager's room was supposed to look like. But it couldn't be mine. If it was mine, I would have made sure there were more books. Otherwise, the furniture was fairly plain and there wasn't much to look at. The voices were more muffled now but I could make out someone saying _shhh…_ The door opened and a stream of bright light entered the room. Before, the room hadn't seemed as dark as it actually was, and the now brilliant presence of light was almost blinding. I could see the silhouettes of two people in the doorway. A young man, who looked to be about my age, and a rider on a horse. Or no. Wait, that was one being. The horse was a part of the rider. Maybe I should have been shocked or frightened, but I was mostly intrigued.

I attempted to sit up, but a throbbing pain echoed inside my skull. I instinctively grabbed my head and grimaced. The young man rushed over to kneel by my bed and gently helped lower my head back down to my pillow. I looked up and was met by the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen. And that's saying a lot. When you live on the street you get to see a lot of eyes staring at you with all kinds of glares. But his eyes were soft and caring. His irises were a deep rich coffee color, and his skin tone was just a bit lighter. His dark brows furrowed with a look of concern and his lips pursed together.

"Maybe I can get her more ambrosia or-" the boy started to say.

"No Will. You have overwhelmed her with care. I don't want to risk giving her too much. She just needs rest," the horse man said as he ducked through the low doorway and trotted into the room. He was much older than the boy, and his long brown beard and curly hair were beginning to grey. He wore a button-down orange shirt on his torso, and he wore nothing on his bottom half. But that may have been because he was a majestic white stallion from his waist on down. The boy rose to stand next to him, and I realized that he was wearing a t-shirt the same color as the horse-man's.

The horse-man came up to my bedside. Then, he spoke to me.

"Tell us dear, what is your name?"

I looked up at him and knew I could trust him. The orange shirts and the cabin-like feeling of the room were the deciding factors. I knew this was where I was supposed to come. I pushed aside the heavy covers and exposed my scarred arms and worn-out hands. Propping myself up on my elbows, I slowly spelled out my name with my hands in sign. _K-A-T-R-I-N-A_.

The horse-man's expression turned from happy to concerned. The boy who had helped nurse me back to health took a step back. My hopes crashed. I quickly signed, _You can't understand me can you_. Horse-man backed away as well, and whispered something in the boy's ear. He runs from the room. I became frightened. They will think I am a creep or broken. They were wrong. I will never belong here. He came close again and his gaze returned to a comforting place as he noticed my urgent expression.

"My dear, can you speak?" he asked me.

I shook my head no.

"How long has it been this way?" he inquired.

I just looked at him.

"Oh silly me, that was the wrong question wasn't it?" he paced back and forth on his front hooves and leaned in closer to me. "Were you born this way?"

I nodded my head yes.

"Well, you seem to know how to communicate," he responded as he retreated closer to the door. "We have a few people who might know what you are trying to tell us," he said with a confident grin.

As if on cue, the young man called Will returned. The horse-man acknowledged him and walked out, leaving Will and I alone in the room. He walked over to my bed and held out a hand. His hair was cut close to his head but was styled perfectly, and his smile was as bright as the sun. I almost didn't notice that he had asked me a question.

"Can you walk?" he asked with a dangerous smile.

I took his hand and attempted to get out of bed. I stood up alright, but I collapsed as soon as I took my first step.

"Woah I've got ya," he said as he slipped his arm under mine, giving me support as I walked. He looked over at me and smiled again; this time, I smiled too, and he let out a small giggle.

"My name is Will by the way," he told me in a voice that was cautious, like the words might hurt me. I smiled and waved a 'Hello Will' to him with my free hand. He laughed again as we walked out the door and down the steps into a large open area.

It was the most gorgeous place I had ever seen.

Everything was green. Not a overbearing 'GREEN' kind of of green but a soft and plushy 'green' kind of green. The grass was beautiful and rustled in the slight breeze. You could smell the fresh scent of strawberries, which were in season, flowering trees, and, unnaturally, sweat. I would say the smell of sweat ruined the peaceful view, but the view wasn't peaceful either. This place was most definitely alive. Teenagers walked from cabin to cabin, and there were all sorts of activities to partake in. There was rock climbing and sword fighting as well as archery and canoeing. A small sliver of hope returned as I took in the amazing sight. Yes, maybe I could belong here. I wasn't being stared at or even payed attention to. I wasn't the freak living in the alleyway anymore. I was a fellow demigod.

Will and I approached a large white house, much larger and more homey than the cabins that littered the area.

"I hope you aren't scared. I know it's a lot to take in. I was horrified when I first came here," Will stated with an empathetic smile. "Everyone here is really nice and you will fit in fine."

I smiled back but returned my gaze to the house. I began to get nervous. This part of my journey was never really explained to me. I was on my own again. I knew what I couldn't let happen, but had no clue what I could or should do.

"We are going to see Annabeth. She is the smartest one here. She can help. Then maybe I can figure out what you're saying." A look of embarrassment crossed his face. "I mean, so you can communicate with Chiron, and, you know, tell him stuff," he resolved as he looked down.

I smiled a little, but was captivated by that name. Annabeth. I was finally going to meet her. In person. I had been waiting for this my entire life.

Stepping through the doorway, we came into a large living room space with a ping pong table squished inside. Chairs circled the table, and some seats were occupied. The horse-man stood at the head of the table and Will helped me into a chair across from two other girls my age. One was buff and had an aura of fearlessness. Her brown hair was pulled back by a red bandana and the t-shirt she wore revealed her scarred arms, similar to my own. She was not smiling. In fact, she seemed rather concerned. The girl next to her did not share her expression. She had grey eyes which gave her a commanding presence, but a small smile was displayed on her face as though she had discovered a move which would win her a chess game. Her hair was also pulled back but in a ponytail, and it gave her an almost scholarly appearance, missing only glasses to complete the look.

"I realize that I may have forgotten to introduce myself," said the horse-man, "My name is Chiron, I am head counselor at Camp Half-Blood."

I was right. This was the place I was told to go. They had told me to contact Chiron as soon as I arrived, though I did it in a slightly different way than planned.

"You have already met Will. I'm sure he supplied a warm enough welcome."

I looked over at Will, who blushed slightly and nodded at Chiron.

"And these two young ladies will be helping you around camp for a while: Clarisse LaRou, daughter of Ares, and Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena," Chiron stated while gesturing to each of them.

Both girls smiled warmly, nodding in my direction. I nodded back in recognition. That explained so much about their appearances.

"So," started Clarisse, "what's your name newbie?"

I looked down at my hands not wishing to do anything to ruin the good start I had with the two girls. I returned my gaze to Chiron looking for guidance.

"Go on, show them," he replied.

Slowly and hesitantly, I raised my hands and began to sign:

 _My name is Katrina_.


	2. Chapter 2

Again all smiles and looks of happiness disappeared. Annabeth scooted forward in her chair seemingly in shock. Clarisse looked over at her.

"What did she say?"

"I... I don't know," Annabeth replied looking puzzled. "That's not ASL, I didn't know there was another common form of sign... I... I've never seen anything like that."

Annabeth looked up at Chiron. "You want me to try and decipher it?"

"If you can. There are some things I want to discuss with her, quite urgently in fact, but I need to be able to understand what she has to say."

Uh oh. What did I do? Urgently didn't sound nice. I hadn't been awake for more than an hour and this was already going wrong. If I could just speak I could fix this.

"Okay, well. I guess let's get started," Annabeth said as she got up from the table.

Walking over to a drawer, she pulled out a sheet of paper and a pencil. "Can you write?"

I could. But I was slow, it took me a long time to write out a simple sentence. I hated the feeling of holding a pencil. I was more comfortable with a sword or just my hands. In scrawny two year old handwriting I scribbled out a sentence:

 **I can but I don't like it.**

Ashamed I push the note toward Annabeth who was so educated. The smartest person in the camp they said. She would probably be ashamed of me too.

On the contrary, her face lit up. She smiled great big. "This might be possible."

I smiled back, relieved.

"Let's start with your name," Annabeth stated as Clarisse got up to leave the room. Chiron followed, leaving Annabeth, Will, and I alone to work. Well, Annabeth and I worked. Will just sat and watched intensely. I showed her my signs for the letters of my name. Then we worked on small words like I, you, her, and him which were simple because they were just pointing. My sign can go two ways: strangely obvious and what the crap how does that mean cow.

It took an hour and a half before she gave up.

There were too many words to learn and my signs apparently had nothing to do with the 'real' signs. Annabeth kept asking "Really?" and "How did you come up with that?" to which I was forced to shrug, knowing that if she knew who taught me all would be lost.

Will had fallen asleep, lying halfway on the table. Annabeth was losing her cool and I was upset. I just wish she could understand. My energy level had not yet returned to normal since my brawl with the Minotaur and I was close to passing out when the door opened and another camper entered the room.

Annabeth looked up.

"Thank the Gods." A look of relief crossed her face and she got up to meet the boy.

"Hey Wise Girl, what's up?"

Immediately I whipped around to face the voice. It was him. I had seen him so many times in iris messages and pictures and I'd heard so much about him, but never in person. I couldn't believe it.

"Percy," Annabeth began, "I've been trying to figure this out forever. This is Katrina, she's mute and has her own way of signing and it's nothing like ASL I don't even know how she came up with half of this stuff and it would be okay if she could write but she can't really I just don't know how she went to school and-"

"Woah Annabeth, she may be mute but she's not deaf," Percy stopped her as he noticed me sitting, looking at my lap. In fact, I was holding back tears. What a fool I was to think that she might be proud of me for communicating the way I did without any proper schooling. I was just a kid with a broken voice box.

He walked over and took the chair Annabeth sat in before. Bringing it over to my side of the table, Percy sat down and looked me in the eye.

"Would you mind if I saw?" he inquired. I didn't want to meet his gaze, I didn't need him to be upset with me too. The two most important people in my life, completely disappointed with me. Compared to all I've been through, it would be the worst thing that's ever happened.

I signed something simple.

 _I am sorry_.

"Wait what are you sorry for?" he asked looking confused. My eyes got wide and I tried something else praying that he was sincere in his understanding.

 _For not being able to speak_.

"Well that's not your fault, you can't help that," Percy replied.

Annabeth stood behind him completely flabbergasted. Percy turned to face her.

"What do you mean this isn't ASL?"

"I mean that it isn't ASL! How on earth did you do that?" Annabeth said, chastising him.

"Woah chill she's just using common sense," he said while raising his voice. Annabeth sighed.

"I'm sorry."

"Thank you, now Katrina is it? Why don't you wake up Will. I think we might need Chiron here," stated Percy. I turned and poked Will in the shoulder. His head shot straight up and he moaned rubbing the sleep from his eyes. I poked him again and he turned towards me. I smiled at him and then pointed to Percy.

"Oh, hey man, didn't see you come in," Will said acknowledging the son of Poseidon. They exchange head nods and Percy continued.

"How was the nap? Hey Will, can you go get Chiron I think we made some progress."

"Yeah, sure thing, um," he said turning towards me, "see you tomorrow?" You could see him blush though the evening sky through the window made the room dark. I smiled at him and nodded vigorously to show him I would like too.

He smiled back, "Sweet, I'll make sure Chiron knows to come over," and with that he ran out the door. I wasn't aware of it but I continued to look at the door though Will had left. Percy tapped me on the shoulder.

"Hey, so where are you from?" he asked.

 _New York_ , I replied.

"What school?"

I told him that I'd never been to school before.

"Oh okay, so Annabeth, she doesn't go to school," he told Annabeth.

"Great."

She had slumped down into a chair opposite me and was staring at me. She did not seem angry, but clearly annoyed.

"How did we find you then?" Percy asked, I returned my gaze to him. I could tell for sure now that he and Annabeth were already a couple. I was told that they might be, but it was not a certainty. It was easy to tell why she liked him. His sea green eyes were intense and his black hair was windswept, but it wasn't too long. He was tan and buff, stereotypical hero.

Not my type.

I told him that I came here on my own.

"Oh," Percy said in a tone of confusion. Turning to Annabeth he spoke again. "Have we had anyone come here on their own?"

"Uh, no," she replied, slightly agitated. She was deliberately trying not to pay attention.

Percy began to look at me intensely.

"How did you know about us?" he inquired. He became very suspicious.

I was not really prepared for that question.

That wasn't an easy answer. He had told me. Both Percy and Annabeth had told me to come here. They had been helping me ever since I was born. I used to speak with them almost every month. However, they couldn't know that.

At that moment the door swung open and I was saved by the clopping of hooves on hardwood floor.

"Progress?" Chiron asked.

"Yeah, actually," replied Percy with a grin.

"Perfect, thank you Annabeth."

"It was Seaweed Brain here actually," Annabeth stated not bothering to meet Chiron's gaze. She was disappointed in herself, I could tell.

"Nah, it was no biggie," said the Seaweed Brain himself with a smug grin.

"Is there a way I can understand her without an interpreter?" Chiron asked expectantly as he moved to the head of the table. With this Percy's eyes went wide.

"Woah, woah woah. There isn't going to be any real way to teach this stuff. It's just common sense, and if you don't know, then you don't know."

Chiron's expression grew dark. "That is unfortunate. I was hoping to speak with her soon. Some urgent matters have come up and I need to be able to communicate with her alone."

At this Annabeth spoke up.

"Wait a minute here. Does she even know what she is? Does she know anything about the gods? She hasn't been claimed yet, I doubt she's been through orientation or anything. Who is she that she needs to be spoken to in private," Annabeth was fuming with betrayal and anger all built up over the afternoon and she finally popped.

"Annabeth, calm yourself."

"Yeah Wise Girl, breathe," Percy said looking on her with concern.

"I assure you, Katrina knows why she is here and who she is. I've sent a satyr to explain things to her before she arrived. How else could she have done the things we've seen her do," said Chiron. That wasn't all true though. I realized that Chiron must be more knowledgeable of my situation than I thought. But knowledge was power and power was dangerous. I would have to watch him closely.

Suddenly, I was on the battlefield again, marking enemies and allies, just like my mother was so great at doing.

Annabeth seem quelled with this answer, though suspicion was still dominant in her eyes. Percy took her hand and started to speak.

"Alright then, I'm thinking that we need a new plan."

At that, Annabeth sighed in exasperation and left the room. Percy followed her with his eyes, then returned his gaze to me.

"I think Annabeth found our new plan. Let's continue tomorrow, it's dinner time. And I know you understand all about the gods and stuff, but you don't know everything. I'll walk you through how we do dinner and then show you some of the camp afterwards."

"Thank you Percy," said Chiron, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some unruly campers to attend to."

"Let's go then," said Percy.

I was filled with excitement, I was going to get some time alone with Percy. It would be so difficult to restrain myself from asking all of the questions I wasn't allowed to. In my hurry, I forgot how weak I was from my prior battle and crumbled to the floor.

"Oh gods are you okay?!" Percy kneeled down beside me.

I signed, _I'm fine, just forgot I was still compromised_.

Percy smiled and helped me up, then he took a piece of ambrosia out of his pocket and gave it to me.

"So I heard you conquered the minotaur," Percy stated as he walked and I half limped, "You know the last person to do that was me."

I tried to look surprised. _You don't say_ , I signed to him.

"Yep," he continued, "stabbed its own horn into its gut. But I didn't know I was a demigod yet. From what I heard, you are pretty experienced with fighting."

I shrugged, trying not to smile.

"Also, A BEEHIVE? Are you even kidding me right now?" he asked.

I giggled as well as a mute girl can giggle and signed back: _Beginner's luck I guess_.

Soon we got to the dining pavilion. Every god had a table, Percy explained, but I'd never be able to tell because most of the campers move around to different tables throughout the meal. Every god had their children, they were brothers and sisters (well step but you know) and they made up a cabin. There was one cabin for each of the major gods and they were working on building more for the minor gods who were just recently starting to gain appreciation. Also, Percy said this was 'muy important', at every meal you sacrifice some of your food to your godly parent by dropping it into the flame that was lit by the pavilion. This was going to be difficult for me, but not because I hadn't been claimed as Percy assumed. He told me that until I was claimed, I could just sacrifice it in the name of 'mom' or 'dad'. I knew I couldn't do either, so I sacrificed my mashed potatoes that night to Hermes, one of the gods who had helped me the most throughout my life.

Now I was faced with a whole new challenge. Where to sit. Percy could tell I was nervous so he led me to his seat by Annabeth. I was more nervous about Annabeth and honestly I thought of declining the offer. However she seemed like she had calmed down some from the last time I saw her. Percy kissed Annabeth on the head and sat down with her on his right. I sat on his left. There were so many people.

Some kids were covered in soot and oil, they were obviously offspring of Hephaestus. I knew him quite well. Hephaestus came to see me often and he showed me how to take things I would find while scavenging dumpsters and make them into useful things. We had been collecting parts to reconstruct a car ever since I was six and we were almost done when I was called to come to the camp. A lot of people didn't like Hephaestus, or so I had heard from him, but he was so kind to me and we laughed all of the time, though his advice was more valuable than the giggles. I think he was just a little partial to me because he said his son Leo was pretty protective of me. Hephaestus told me stories of Leo all of the time, I wish I had met him. Hephaestus told me that he would probably be around once I got to camp. I wonder if he was here tonight.

There was also a table filled with mostly books and kids with glasses. Athena's children I bet. Always studying, always working, always sassing each other with knowledge. I loved reading, it's one of my favorite things. If I would fit anywhere it would be with them. I want to be with them, listening to them talk about the latest article they've read and being countered by someone who read a differing paper and watching them duke it out. Maybe even getting to put my thoughts out there. That was the dream. I had the genes, just not the voice. I frowned thinking of my relationship with Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war. I admired her so much; she saw me as Hades's pet cat or something. I was the cursed child to her. She did come to see me during her time of the month though. She schooled me. She pushed me. She rarely helped me and taught me to rely on myself for answers not other people. I was intelligent, but only because of Athena. To her, I owe an immeasurable debt.

There were campers who were beautiful beyond doubt, Aphrodite's, and I despised them as much as I despised their mom. She just babysat me when she came and had no hope in my looks or love life, which I was fine with. Then you get Hermes's kids. Sneaky bugs, but Hermes helped me a lot; he kept me updated on my parents and what was going on in my own world. He would gossip for hours telling me stories of all of the horrid things celebrities do and who was angry with who among the gods. I liked Apollo's family. Apollo took me away from the streets and treated me like an equal. We played so many pranks on people walking the streets. He was the only one who allowed me to feel like a kid. He was also the one who took me up when I was seriously wounded in battle. I couldn't go to a hospital, but he was so much better. I never complained. There were a few close calls though. Times when he was busy and I was on the brink of death. But if I knew one thing, it was how to survive. I realized that some of the campers I saw were from minor gods and I didn't know all of them. Percy was right though, a lot of the camp tables were mixed.

"Hey guys this is Katrina, new gal," Percy said as he introduced me to the group.

A native american girl popped her head around Annabeth and waved, "Hi I'm Piper!"

Aphrodite, but she was friends with Annabeth, I saw her once through an Iris message. She was fine.

The blonde boy across from Piper, holding her hand, pushed his glasses up on his nose. "Jason, nice to meet you," he reached to shake hands and smiled from across the table.

Percy leaned over and whispered, "He's Zeus's son."

I made a surprised Oh face, though I already had suspected that. I'm pretty sure he and Piper just got married back home. Well, the home I would have had.

Percy started off again, "Nico would usually be here, he probably went to McDonald's tonight though. He is the son of Hades. You might think he's pretty scary but he's a sweetheart really."

"Don't you dare call me a sweetheart, asshole," said a voice from behind.

"Oh there he is," said Percy, "Nice to see you Ghost King."

A McDonald's to-go bag plopped down in the space to my left. Along with it came a dark haired gothic looking boy with an enormous sword on his side. Oh yeah, I knew Nico. He had shadow traveled to see me once. Heard a rumor from his dad that a demigod was out on the streets and was the daughter of freaks. He found me, said "oh, you are real" and "I guess I'll see you again sometime soon". Nico came and left me McDonald's and even took me with him to go get it once. He never asked my name, but called me shadow girl because that's where I lived, in the shadows. Nico never mentioned my parents or destiny or anything, though he may not have known. We were chill, and we sort of left it at that.

"Oh hey, what's up" he said dismally as he sat down and took out his fries. He glanced my way and smirked. I had no clue what he was thinking, but I wasn't going to pry.

I was surprised though, he practically inhaled his dinner and got up to leave within five minutes. He stood up, and whispered in my ear before walking away.

"See you around Shadow Girl," and with that he dropped a burger wrapper in my lap and was gone. Just like that.

Percy leaned over my shoulder.

"Nico? Open it Katrina."

I opened it, and it was slashes marked out in a rhythm. I didn't understand.

"Oh that's the knock combination to his cabin," Percy said then paused in confusion. "Um, he's gay, so I have no clue what that's about," Percy was blushing and he looked away quickly and joined in conversation with Jason.

Nico being gay was new news, but I didn't mind. He was mostly nice to me, we were 'chill' anyways. I tucked the wrapper into my pocket; I'm sure I would need it sometime. Suddenly I felt something extremely cold down my back. Instinct took over and I grabbed a butter knife from the table and whipped around, I grabbed a kid and threw him in a headlock, knife to his throat.

"WOAH! WOAH! Calm down _mi amiga_ it was just ice!" cried the curly brown haired culprit.

I dropped the knife and his head in surprise, as I clasped a hand to my mouth. I knew that voice. Percy jumped up in a hurry and saw the boy. At that sight he sat back down.

"Gosh Leo sit down, honestly you deserved it."

"Perce she might have killed me and all you say is 'sit down Leo'?"

The trouble boy sat down in the seat across from me. It was Leo, like pretty much my uncle Leo, son of Hephaestus. Immediately I was thankful I hadn't pulled _Anaklusmos II_ on him.

"Who's the pretty girl Perce and why don't I have her number?" Leo asked as he leaned across the table and smile mischievously.

"The GIRL is Katrina, and you don't have her number because you have a girlfriend."

"Hey man I was just jokin', going for a little #throwbackthursday to when I hit on, oh, let's say, EVERYONE. HAHA," Leo laughed. "Well nice to meet you Katrina, say, when did you get here?"

I looked at Percy.

"She got here yesterday doofus, haven't you heard?"

"Nah man I've been chillin' with Calypso and working on Festus, ain't nobody got time to get the news anymore."

"She killed a minotaur," Percy stated as he chewed.

"Ha that's nice, no really what happened?" Leo asked as he put his feet up.

Jason piped up now. "No really she did."

Leo looked back at me dumbfounded.

"No wonder you tried to slice my neck open, girl's got guts I guess."

"Yeah, so don't sneak up on her 'kay?" Percy asked.

"Yes sir!" Leo said as he saluted Percy. Percy sighed, smiled and they both turned to converse with the others.

The rest of dinner was pretty uneventful, I found myself thinking too much though. I had no clue what the next step was. I felt lonely and lost, even surrounded by all of these people. Eventually, I caught myself staring at Will from a few tables away. Not really thinking about it, just finding comfort in knowing he was close. He was the first real camper I saw, so I found it justified that he brought me peace. I don't know. Something just felt right.

I don't know how to add an author's note, so this is just going right here.

Hey! This is my fic and if you're reading this then that means you've liked it enough to get through chapter two. I update when I get excited and I have a bunch of chapters typed up and almost ready to go.

I would really like to hear what you think though. Knowing what things my readers do and don't like makes me a better writer. Also, hearing from you makes me super happy. So please review and comment what you think (and if someone can tell me how to correctly add an author's note please mention it in a comment).

A special thank you to those of you who are following the story! You do not understand the kind of joy that gives me.

Thank You!

—c.c.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys!**

 **I figured it out... I think. Either way here's the next chapter in Katrina's adventure. I hope you guys have been enjoying it. There's a little KatrinaXWill fluff that you all saw coming in this one. Please don't forget to review, I definitely want to here about what you guys think!**

 **Again thank you for your time, enjoying reading!**

 **—charlotteclements**

* * *

"Alright, everyone is going out for a late night activity. You up for it?" Percy asked, getting up from his seat.

 _Nah, I think I'm pretty exhausted. Thank you though_.

"We better figure out where you are staying then," Percy replied. "Let's go see Chiron."

We got up and walked back to the big white house. I had most of my strength back, so I was walking fine, but Percy watched me closely. I opened the door, and we walked in on a meeting comprised of Chiron, Dionysus, and an unseen someone on an Iris message. Dionysus quickly cut off the message as the counselors turned to address us.

"Oops sorry," Percy said.

"That's her?" Dionysus asked, glancing at Chiron. "She looks different."

"Mr. D? You know Katrina?" Percy asked, confused.

Dionysus was quick to counter; "Oh no, Peter, I haven't met her, but we've been keeping tabs on her mother."

I felt like that was complete bullshit.

"Did you two need something?" Chiron asked, clearly impatient.

"Um, we just need to know where you wanted Katrina to be lodging until she's claimed," Percy said cautiously.

"Oh yes… we've discussed that matter in depth," Chiron said glancing at Mr. D. Mr. D was right, he hadn't met me in person, but we've talked once before via Iris message. About five years ago probably. I knew he was another of the camp's counselors. "If she is no longer in need of medical care, she will stay in the Hermes cabin as per tradition."

"Okay. I just wasn't sure if-"

"Is that all Percy?" Chiron asked sternly.

"Um, yes sir," Percy replied hesitantly. He backed up towards the door; I looked back and forth between his unsure gaze and Chiron's glare. Obviously, something was wrong.

"I'll show you where to go, Katrina," Percy said without taking his eyes off of the centaur.

I nodded vigorously, anxious to get out of the tension filled room. We walked out, and I quietly clicked the door shut behind us.

"I don't know what that was about," Percy told me, slightly concerned. He paused. "Well, actually, they've been pretty involved with the turmoil on Mount Olympus."

I just listened as we walked. This was probably going to be information I would need.

"I can tell Poseidon is involved," he said. "The seas are chaotic. Everything is scared."

 _Scared?_ I signed.

"Yeah it's weird," Percy explained, "like everything in the ocean is moving in a cautious panic."

I nodded like I understood, but how could things be cautious while panicking? It didn't make sense.

"Oh, this cabin is Hermes's. Most demigods who haven't been claimed yet live here. As soon as they're claimed they get moved, like you will be. Unless you are a daughter of Hermes, then you get to stay."

 _Thank you._

"Are you sure you'll be okay without me here to translate?" Percy sighed in concern.

 _I think I can manage._

"Alright then," Percy turned to go. "Um, if you change your mind, the game starts in 10 minutes. We're playing capture the flag." I looked at him curiously.

 _I'll think about it._

"Suit yourself."

Percy ran to his cabin to get ready. It was on the other side of camp. I had seen the cabins of the big three from the dining pavilion. He was pretty far out when he called back.

"Will lives in Hermes BTW!" he exclaimed.

I wouldn't be alone, thank the gods. I was really worried about being in a cabin with a bunch of strangers, but Will would be there. He had been so kind to me. No one besides Percy and a handful of the gods were that nice. Hopefully he would help me fit in at Hermes.

I opened the door to the bustle of busy teenagers suiting up for battle. I didn't realize capture the flag was so violent, but everyone was putting on breastplates and helmets. Some even had shields. I could only imagine the kinds of weapons they would have. I worked my way carefully through flying pieces of clothing and metal until I saw Will lacing up his boots near the back of the room.

The room was lined with bunk beds placed as close together as possible. It didn't smell very pleasant either, but I was just looking forward to the bed. I had a mattress that I had slept on for almost eighteen years, but that was as good as I could get in the alley without drawing attention to myself. I would have given up my whole destiny just to sleep on a bed.

I came up behind Will and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned his head toward me.

"Oh, hey Katrina! I was wondering if you were going to come by," Will said with a huge smile.

I just waved in response with a shy smile.

"I just cleared a bunk for you. You don't mind the bottom do you?" He asked and walked over to the bottom bunk of the bed across from what looked like his own.

I shook my head no to show that I didn't mind.

"Oh, that's good," he said. He looked down and blushed slightly. I came over and slowly sat down on the bed. Immediately, I was overcome with exhaustion. This had been a long day. I crawled up and laid down right there, wrapping my arms around the pillow as tightly as I could.

Will laughed as he walked back over to his own bed. He stared at the door as people were heading out.

"Are you coming? Out to the game I mean," Will asked me. I shook my head and rubbed my eyes to indicate that I was too tired. He giggled again.

"I understand, you had a tough day." Will stopped and shuffled his feet while looking down. "Um, did you want some company? I would think it would be sort of freaky being here alone."

He looked up at me and I wanted so badly to say yes. I did need someone with me. I had just gone through seventeen years of my life practically alone. Now I had gotten a taste of friendship and companionship, and I didn't want to let it go. I didn't want it to all be a dream that I would wake up from tomorrow morning. But Will had his shield by his bed and his breastplate on. He was ready to fight. Not to stay back and play baby-sitter.

Then he caught me looking at his armor. He started to take it off.

"Oh, don't worry about that. Seriously, I really don't like fighting that much anyways. Those games aren't my forte," he said as he shook his head and frantically took of his breastplate. I held up my hand to show him he didn't have to, but he insisted, so I just smiled as a thank you.

"There," he sighed in relief, "much better." He sat crisscross on his bed and looked at me strangely.

"How have we been talking?" He asked confused.

I looked back at him, mirroring his expression, and nodded and shook my head a lot.

"Oh yeah," He smiled, "that's not so bad, right?"

I rolled my eyes a little and shrugged my shoulders.

"I feel like this way will work fine," he continued, "at least for us. But if Chiron wants to talk to you, we will have to figure something out."

I nodded in agreement.

"Would you mind if I asked you some questions?" Will asked, gaining confidence.

I shrugged and smiled, signaling that I was alright with it.

"First of all, how old are you?"

I glared at him.

"Crap, wrong way. Ugh. Let's see… are you 19?"

My eyes got wide, I shook my head quickly.

"No? 18?"

He was closer. I waved my hand in an inbetween manner.

"Okay, I think I get it. So 17, but almost 18," Will declared triumphantly.

I gave him a thumbs up; he was right on.

"Hey that's cool. I'm 17 too!" He looked at me curiously.

"This is like a guessing game, huh?"

I nodded once more.

"Well, question one wasn't too horrible, so how about another one. Are you from around here?"

Another nod.

"New York?"

Nod.

"See! I'm pretty good at this," Will said, brushing his shoulders playfully.

I giggled silently. He was really funny, like way funnier than the stories of Uncle Leo.

"Now let's try this. Favorite color."

I looked at him with wild eyes of confusion.

"Is that too personal?" He asked, putting his hands in the air in defense. "I just thought we were to the point in our friendship when asking these deep kind of questions would be alright."

I laughed (silently of course) and held up my hands in a stop motion to show that it was fine.

"No no, if you're not ready for it then we don't have to go that far yet."

My hand reached behind me slowly and I grabbed a hold of the pillow behind me.

Suddenly, Will had a face full of pillow.

"Hey!" he exclaimed in a muffled voice as he removed the pillow from his face. He pulled the arm with the pillow back to prepare for retaliation, but he paused for a moment and pulled the pillow to his chest, smiling.

"Now you won't get this back," he said, taunting me.

The smile on my face transformed into an expression filled with betrayal and shock. I leapt up from my bed and ran over to retrieve my pillow. I reached for it, but he moved it to the other side before I could grab it. He would not give it up! Then, he threw it back on my bed and laughed as I jumped onto the bed and buried my face in it. I quickly got back into a sitting position, still holding on tight to the pillow.

Then, I was taken aback by a ginormous yawn. Will smiled sweetly.

"It looks like someone is ready for bed," he said. I nodded and got up to take off my shoes and crawl under the covers.

"Wait, are you going to bed in that?"

I looked at my jeans and t-shirt. They were a bit dirty, but I didn't see anything wrong with them. I nodded in response.

"No pajamas?"

I looked at him sadly. I tried to grab my clothes, shake my head and point to myself, hoping he would understand. He did.

"You don't have any other clothes, huh?" Will said, his smile turning to a look of concern. "I'll have to see if any of the girls have some they're willing to give up."

I smiled back at him, grateful, and then climbed into bed. My eyes were still glued to him though, and he sat there looking back at me too. Then he reached under his bed.

"Do you mind if I play?" He brought out a beat up looking guitar with a pick wedged between the strings.

I liked hearing guitars, so I shook my head affirmatively. He started off with something slow and melodic. It was very soothing. Though the guitar was in bad shape, the music Will made with it was astounding. His fingers moved gracefully up and down the neck of the guitar while he plucked the strings in rhythm at the bottom. I wasn't really the most musical person, but the guitar captivated me, and I was soon lost in the music. I was so consumed that I didn't realize my eyelids were growing heavy and coming closer and closer together. Quickly, my eyes were shut, and Will's playing carried me safely into my dreams. Dreams that became nightmares.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey People!**

 **So glad to be posting another chapter. I hope you all like it. Please don't forget to review! I'm super desperate to hear from you!**

 **Also, I know this is the first itme I'm mentioning this, but I'm including a disclaimer for all of my chapters which I should have had up first.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own PJO, BoO, or Riordan's characters. I don't own anything you recognize.**

 **-c.c.**

* * *

I woke up early the next morning, probably about four, my face plastered to a pillow caked with tears. It had been Annabeth and Percy, only older (like they should be). It was an entire dream of them staring down at me with strong disappointment. No matter what I did, no matter how much I pleaded for forgiveness, they stayed silent with the same look. I couldn't leave either. I was stuck in a room with my parents. I had failed them, and that was my eternal punishment. Though the morning brought me relief, I couldn't believe I had spent my first night crying over a nightmare.

I wanted to get up before everyone else. I hadn't been to a camp before, but I could guess that using the shower in the morning would be a different kind of nightmare. I sat up, careful not to make any noises that would wake the sleeping camper above me, and then moved to stand.

Honestly, it was a blessing to be mute at that moment. If I could talk, there would have been a flood of loud and obnoxious profanities coming from my throat.

I had stubbed my toe on a large cardboard box. It looked like it had a message written on top, but it was still dark and too difficult to read. I worked at readjusting my eyes until I could finally make out the words. It read:

WELCOME TO CAMP :) , can't wait to get to know you!

-Much Love, Piper and the Girl's from Aphrodite 3

I was a little stunned. Upon opening the box, I found so much. The Aphrodite girls had really thought of everything. There were clothes, under things, shampoo, towels, socks, shoes, even a little bit of make-up (which I had no clue how to use). I sat back on the bed and realized I was crying again. I never had the chance to own half of these things before. Heck, I'd never been able to wash my hair in the shower. I got one shower a month back when I lived on the streets. The tears flowed unyieldingly, and I was overcome with joy, gratitude, and shock. _Aphrodite_ girls, of all people. I was so thankful as I grabbed some clean clothes, a towel, and shower gear and went to experience a proper shower for the first time in my entire life.

Let me just say this.

Showers are a gift from the gods.

I had never understood what the word 'clean' truly meant until after that exquisite morning. The water was warm, which was a bonus, and I SMELLED FANTASTIC. I was never going to go back to once a month shower schedule. Water was my new favorite thing. You could get it fresh and clean and _cold_ from the _faucet_. I drank that up like there was no tomorrow. Being under it was amazing. I loved how it hit the back of my head and neck like forceful rain. It was really invigorating.

And I hate myself a little for saying this, but the clothes the Aphrodite cabin supplied me with were actually really nice. There weren't any frilly dresses or high heels or any of the things that I used to see Aphrodite herself in. That morning, I put on a pair of ripped mid-thigh cut-off shorts, a bra (that actually fit!) and a bright orange Camp Half-Blood tank top. With that on, I felt like I belonged.

It was coming close to 6:00 am, and the Hermes cabin began to stir. I didn't want to be caught up in the chaos, so I slid my box with my new belongings under my bunk and laced up some hiking boots. I tiptoed down the line of sleepy teenagers and walked out the front door.

I shivered as I was greeted with cool,damp morning air. The camp still looked asleep: everything was calm, and there was no one around. This was always my favorite time of day. The streets were less busy in the mornings, and I could actually go out and walk around. Mornings had been me time. Me, the big buildings, and the slow traffic which seemed to hum a continuous dirge. Morning here was almost the same. Only it was me, the trees, and a few birds who I could hear telling the waking world an exciting story. And it wasn't long before people started coming out to hear it. Well, I doubt they actually came out to hear the birds' story, but soon the yard was filled with campers attempting to be ready and awake for whatever the day had in store for them.

I felt a tap on my shoulder, and I turned around to see Will.

"Good morning."

I tipped my imaginary top hat to him in greeting.

"Wow," Will said staring at me, "The clothes from the Aphrodite girls fit you really well." He then blushed and looked away apologetically.

Will wasn't the best at being subtle, but I brushed it off. Boys will be boys. Then my stomach growled.

"Oh, breakfast is soon don't worry," Will said looking over to the dining pavilion, "then you'll start your first full day at the camp."

Gosh, it didn't feel like my second day. I already felt like I had grown up there.

"You know, you should find some people from other cabins to see what they do during the day. A lot of them do some cool things specific to their parents talents and it's fun to watch them work."

I nodded. That would be a good idea. I needed to get to know people.

"That's pretty much what I do all day, since I haven't been claimed," Will said dejectedly. I put a hand on his arm to show him it was alright.

"Six months is pretty long to go unclaimed," he said, "Hopefully soon, right?" He plastered a smile on his face again and I put one on too and nodded.

"Come on, let's go get some bacon or somethin',"

Somehow, Will and I got separated in the line for food. It was probably around when I got the fire altar. I knew who I should sacrifice my french toast to, but I was hesitant. In the end, morality won out, and I thanked Aphrodite for her daughters and their kindness. I couldn't find Will after that, but luckily, I saw Percy and his crew at the same table as last night's dinner, so I went and sat down there. He had Jason on one side and Annabeth on the other; I sat across from him instead.

I was feeling terribly confident for some reason and I began to sign.

 _Is there anyone here who paints?_

And I guess the only person paying attention to me was Leo.

"Haha what was that?" Leo exclaimed as he sat down next to me. My face turned bright red, and I immediately sat on my hands and looked away from the table.

"No no no, do it again!" Leo asked, pulling at my elbow.

"Wait what?" Jason asked Leo.

"She did some weird stuff with her hands. Watch, do it again!" Leo screeched again. I couldn't cry anymore. I couldn't. A scowl made its way across my face.

Percy turned away from Annabeth and turned towards Leo, who was doing an impression of my sign.

"What the- Leo stop that!"

"No man you missed it, Katrina was waving some kind of magic over you and Jason. I mean it was-"

That was the point when my embarrassment became anger, and my anger became violence.

I caught Leo upside the jaw with my elbow and then went in to push his face into his breakfast, but I didn't get that far. Percy had been yelling, but what got me was when he threw a glass of cold water on my face.

I looked over at Percy, appalled at myself, and quickly signed, _Thank you_.

"Yeah no problem, but we have to work on your diplomatic defense a little more."

I nodded, while taking a napkin to my face.

"What the hades-" cried Leo

"You, you need to shut up Leo" Jason said.

"What did-"

"Leo," Percy said, "Katrina can't talk. She has to use sign language, so you need to stop being an asshole so she can stop giving you bruises, capiche?"

Leo held onto his jaw but made it quite obvious that he understood. Percy looked over at me.

"I guess we didn't explain that last night huh."

I nodded.

"What were you tryin' to say earlier before Leo happened."

I signed, _I wanted to know if there was anyone here who painted. I want to try._

"Oh," he said, "um, that's a great question. Hey Piper, don't some of the Aphrodite girls paint?"

Piper responded after finishing her conversation with Annabeth, "Yes, but Percy they aren't really that great."

"Percy, you should know who can paint in this camp," Annabeth said as she turned to face him.

"I should?"

"What about your favorite Oracle?" She said jokingly.

"Oh. Yes."

Percy glanced around awkwardly.

"Rachel Elizabeth Dare paints."

I signed back to him, _Can I visit her today? Maybe watch for a while?_

"Sure. Um… Annabeth can take you?" He asked as he addressed his girlfriend. She glared at him and he put on his best puppy dog eyes.

"Fine," she sighed, "I need to ask her about something anyway." As she said this she stared straight at me unflinching. I immediately became nervous. I'd bet a hundred drachmas she was going to ask Rachel about me, especially if Rachel was the Oracle. Luckily, Oracles don't know much about the prophecies they receive. I was just praying there hadn't been one about 'she who speaks not' or something like that.

"So, how did you sleep last night? I noticed you weren't at the game last night," Jason asked. I nodded and signed, _I slept really well and everyone has been really kind_. Percy translated for Jason.

"Well that's good," Jason said with a smile. "I'm glad you're fitting in alright."

I smiled back. Jason was sort of an awkward kid, but he was very considerate.

Percy and Jason then started talking, and I just listened. Listening was definitely something I enjoyed doing, which is lucky for me since I honestly can't hold a conversation that well. That morning at breakfast, I had learned about the sneaky Aphrodite/Ares team at the game last night and how they swept the competition and won the game after only half an hour. The games sounded like a lot of fun. Maybe that night I could try it.

"Well," Annabeth said as she got up from the table, "I want to clear out before everyone rushes out of here like cattle. Come on Katrina. Rachel should be in the Big House."

I got up and followed her out of the pavilion. The Big House, which I discovered was the white one where I had first met Annabeth, wasn't that far away from the dining area, but the walk was long and tortuous.

She didn't look at me or speak to me once. We walked briskly and in silence. There was a lot of negative energy from her directed at me, and it did nothing to renew my confidence from the incident with Leo.

"Rachel?" Annabeth called as we walked through the doors.

"In here Annabeth!" the Oracle yelled from a back room in the house. Annabeth started off immediately, and I had a difficult time keeping up with her. The house didn't look so big from the outside, but the hallways resembled a labyrinth. It felt like she was deliberately trying to lose me. That made me work even harder to keep up. Finally, Annabeth stopped in front of a room with a bright blue door that was cracked open just slightly.

"Rachel?" Annabeth said knocking on the blue wood. Suddenly the door opened and a bubbly face outlined in curly red hair showed through the crack.

"Oh hey you, what's up? You guys can come in. I'm just working on the piece from last week."

"I thought you said you finished it a few days ago?" Annabeth recalled.

"Oh, I didn't like it, so I tried again."

Oh my gosh. I was instantly nauseated upon entering the room.

"Goodness Rachel! I thought we told you to open the window! It smells awful in here. All of these paint fumes can really get you sick," Annabeth said with some concern.

"You're right I almost forgot!" Her paint covered fingers reached over to the window on the far wall and opened it half way. Then, she turned to me.

"Hello! I don't believe we've met. I'm Rachel Elizabeth Dare," the girl stated as she reached her hand out. I took it with a smile and came away with a rainbow in my palm.

"Oh goodness, I'm sorry! I didn't realize what a mess I've made."

"I need to speak with you for a moment Rachel," Annabeth said sternly.

"That's fine," Rachel replied. She then glanced at me and back at Annabeth, "The hall then?"

Annabeth nodded and left the room. Rachel turned to me on her way out.

"You can look at those over there if you'd like," she said pointing to a pile of canvases in the corner. I nodded with a smile for a thank you. Then I was alone. I didn't want to think of what Annabeth was telling Rachel, so I walked over to the canvases and began to take them out one at a time.

They were drenched in color. I loved the abstractness. It was just color on top of color on top of color. The paintings were all different, too. They used the same style and paint colors, but each was unique. The paintings I looked at once in a museum were nothing like this. Each of those paintings was of a specific item or place, and they were more realistic. Rachel's paintings were of nothing. Well, I shouldn't say that. Nothing would be either completely white or completely dark, so these had to be of something. Maybe if we were each paintbrushes and our ideas were paint, these pictures would be an exact replica of the mind of Rachel Elizabeth Dare.

Then she was there. I hadn't noticed her come back into the room. All of a sudden, she was looking over my shoulders at her own work.

"Do you like them?"

I nodded. They were all really nice.

"Annabeth told me you'd like to try."

Again I nodded, but I was starting to become unsure if this was really going to work out. But just like that, Rachel had grabbed a new canvas and gotten it set up right next to hers. She put a paintbrush in my hand and led me over to the workspace.

"Now before you start you have to understand one thing," Rachel started, "Painting requires emotion and the willingness to just let go of yourself and get lost in your creation."

That sounded hard.

"You can go ahead and use my paints, just put yourself on that canvas." With that, she began to paint again and was completely oblivious to my being there.

I had nothing to lose I guess, so I picked out a nice blue that resembled her door and infected the clean white surface with a turquoise stain. I worked with blues and greens and a little bit of white and darker grey. It took about fifteen minutes to fill up the small canvas with color. I liked it. It reminded me of a picture I saw of a lake. It was like water, and I was actually happy with it. I was also fairly clean still, which made me proud. I stood there and waited for Rachel to see I was finished. It took a while. With a tap on her shoulder she finally turned to look.

"Oh goodness!" she exclaimed, "That definitely is something. And it's only been fifteen minutes?" She said with a worried look. "Are you sure you're done with it?"

I nodded. I didn't want to ruin it by tinkering with it more.

Rachel gave an exasperated sigh. "Well it has to dry."

I gave her a puzzled look and went to touch the paint.

"NO! What are you doing?" She exclaimed and grabbed for my hand before it reached the surface. I was so confused. Looking at her, I reached up with my other hand and touched the glossy paint. The glossy paint which was completely dry.

"Oh," she pulled back in apology. "Then you're done I guess." She spoke with a half disgusted tone. "I don't have any other small canvases like that, so unless you want to watch me work on this one you can go."

I didn't mind the harshness in her voice because I was ready to get out of the fume-filled room. I took my painting and waved goodbye to Rachel, but she was lost in her art again and I wasn't going to try and bring her back.

It took me half an hour, but I finally made my way out of the house and into the fresh air. At least I learned something. I'm not good at art according to Rachel Elizabeth Dare. Art was frustrating. Something that was beautiful to you was trash to someone else. Art was hurtful, and the industry was cruel. I didn't really like it anyways.


	5. Chapter 5

**OH MY GOSH.**

 **THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH!**

 **Seeing these reviews and the amount of new followers after posting Chapter Four was super insane and intense for me. I just wanted to send many thank you's and smiley *squee* faces to all of you who take the time to stop and read my writing. Again, it means so very much to me.**

 **I'd like to address one the important questions asked by ImpossibleThings12: No, this Will is not Will Solace from the books. His name is Will Holmes and if you look in the first chapter you will see that the description of Will Holmes doesn't quite match up with how Riordan describes Will Solace. We will get to Will Solace in a later chapter though, don't worry. :)**

 **I hope that this chapter is enough to keep you going, though I know it's a little short. My editor is working pretty fast and I couldn't thank them enough.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything you recognize**

 **Happy Reading!**

 **-c.c.**

* * *

I walked back to Hermes with my painting in hand. My opinion on it had shifted; I did like it, and I had decided to keep it. I walked in and passed a few campers who were changing or quickly grabbing a few things. I figured out that no one liked to stay in the cabins. Who could blame them? It was gorgeous outside, and there was plenty to do. My painting fit snuggly in my box from the aphrodite girls. I pushed the box under my bed and contemplated my next move.

Honestly, I had no clue where to begin. I knew I wanted to be with someone I knew a little better. Maybe someone who hadn't been poisoned by Annabeth and what she thought of me.

Actually, there was something I needed to fix.

Hephaestus had always told me that Leo was protective of me and cared about me a lot. I almost killed him twice in less than two days. I had no clue if Leo was one to hold a grudge, but apologizing was a good idea anyway. However, I didn't know where Leo was.

That was the start of my first real adventure at camp. A good 'ole game of "Where's Leo"?

First Guess: Hephaestus Cabin.

The cabin was easy to find. It looked handmade and probably was, sporting a lot of metal pieces and cool contraptions. I walked in and quickly found out that it was abnormal to walk into cabins you didn't belong to. Also, no sign of Leo.

Second Guess: Wherever Percy was.

To be completely honest, I had bet all my drachmas on Leo being in Hephaestus Cabin. But I had to try somewhere else. Besides, if he wasn't with Percy, Percy knew him better than I did, and he could help point me in the right direction.

Percy was overseeing sword fighting practice when I found him.

"Hey Katrina, what's up?" Percy said, completely walking away from the fight.

I signed, _Not much. Do you know where Leo is?_

"Leo? Oh, probably in his workshop working on Festus. That's where he always is." Percy replied.

I signed again, _How do I get there?_

"Oh it's sort of secret. I forgot to mention that," Percy said, "Hey why are you by yourself? I thought Annabeth was with you?"

I signed nervously, _We got separated somehow?_

"That's weird," Percy contemplated. "Well, you need someone to take you to Leo and translate and here I am... so let's go."

I quickly signed, _No that's okay I just need-_

"Okay, okay. If you don't want me around then just let me show you over and then I'll get out of your way okay?" Percy said with a smile.

I smiled back and signed, _Thanks_.

"Don't mention it. Hey Pipes! You mind takin' over for a while?"

Piper, who was a short distance away, nodded and gave a thumbs up in confirmation.

Then, we went on our way. We walked into the forest just outside of camp, talking as we went. Percy asked about painting, and I told him what happened and that I probably wasn't cut out for the arts. He laughed and told me that Rachel was the only one who was. He also asked about why seeing Leo was so important. I confessed that I wanted to apologize and afterwards watch him do his thing for a bit. He thought this was a good idea, but mentioned that I shouldn't expect metalworking to be my cup of tea unless I was a daughter of Hephaestus. (He said in his opinion I didn't look like one, but you never know). I knew then that I would just stay and watch. Percy got lost a few times, but I'm sure it was just so that we could talk more. He tried to ask me about my childhood and things I liked to do. I kept my answers as generic as possible and as close to the truth as possible without revealing anything important. Luckily, my answers seemed to satisfy him. We soon came to a large, rocky cliff face. Percy went up to it and pressed a little intercom button.

"Leo, it's Percy and Katrina."

"Hey I never get visitors! Give me a sec."

The cliff face burst into flames and Percy got out of the way just in time. I did not see that coming. Suddenly, a garage-like door that was previously hidden by rocks was unveiled. Percy walked right on through. I pushed all of the strange things that just happened out of my mind and followed him into the cliff.

It was dark inside, lit only by boiling metals, low fires, and the occasional spray of sparks. There were wires and tools scattered every which way, and an outrageously huge metal dragon in the middle of the space. I took this creature to be Festus.

Festus and Leo both looked up from their work. Leo definitely looked busy. His white shirt was covered in grease and coal dust. He had tools spilling from his belt, and his hair was a complete mess. He looked alien with his goggles on his face.

"Welcome to Bunker 9 Lady and Gentleman. How, on this wonderful day, can Leo the SuperSized McShizzle, be of service to you?" He said, removing his goggles with a sly grin.

"Calm yourself Leo. Katrina was looking for you."

"Frick, what did I do now?"

"Chill Leo."

"What?"

"She's apologizing."

"Oh," Leo said. He walked over to us and reached out his hand to me, "I accept any apology you have for me. Just please don't try to hurt me again."

He bowed his head and I took his hand and smiled.

I signed, _Thank you so much._

"She says thank you," Percy said. He was also smiling.

"Perfect!" Leo exclaimed, popping his head up and shaking my hand. He started to walk away.

"Dude, that's not all," Percy said, regaining his attention,

"Aw man! Did I already screw it up?" Leo whined, sulking back over to us.

"Leo."

Leo snapped to attention. "Yes sir."

"Can she stay and watch?" Percy asked.

"Hm. Let me think about this," he said, putting his finger to his chin. "I could say yes and keep my life, or I could say no and be attacked by an angry girl. I'll go with option number one."

"Gosh Leo, you are so complicated haha," cried Percy. He looked over at me. "Are you sure you want me to go?"

He was already starting to act like a dad. I signed, _You know I'm the same age as you guys right? I'm going to be fine._

"Alright. See you later then. Get me out of here Leo" He said, turning to the mechanic.

"As you wish," Leo said, walking over to a control panel. "Where're you goin' Perce?"

"My cabin is fine."

"Step right up sir."

Percy stepped inside a tube and was gone. I must have blinked or something, but Percy was just... gone. I decided this place was full of strange things that I would rather not question.

"SO Katrina... can I call you Kat? I'm going to call you Kat. What brings you to come see the Repair Boy?"

I couldn't tell if he was mocking me or if he was just forgetful. He looked at me for two minutes straight before hitting himself in the forehead.

"I forgot. You do the hand thing and not the mouth thing... right," He turned around and went back to his work. He got on a mechanic roller bed and slid under the magic dragon. "Well I hope you're good with me talking a lot. I do that anyway. I'll just pretend that you can talk back, okay?" I rolled my eyes and started to look around.

"Oh and don't touch anything!"

No shit, sherlock.

"I could feel you roll your eyes at me."

No wonder everyone was so annoyed with him all of the time. I climbed up a staircase to a metal balcony where I could look down on Festus and the tiny man working on him. It was pretty amazing. I was almost positive everything here had been made by Leo. He was really talented with this stuff.

"I bet you're wondering, 'Leo, how on earth did you get to be so good at making stuff and why are you so handsome?'" He said in a girly voice. "Well Kat, I have two answers for you."

I rolled my eyes once more. He rolled out from under Festus.

"One: my mom had a mechanic shop and I helped her a lot when I was little. I guess being a son of Hephaestus helps too," He shrugged, then struck a model pose while still lying on the roller. "And two: I was just born this way."

I snickered and he went back to work under Festus with a grin. Okay, he was a little funny. Still annoying though.

"No, really though, I've been around this stuff my whole life."

Leo told me a lot about himself. He talked about his mom and the fire that killed her and he told me about his Aunt Rosa and the school where he met Piper and Jason. From there, things were crazy. I knew a lot about the group, but no one had told me all of the things that had happened with they fought against Gaia. It was a lot to take in, but I was hooked on every word. Leo was an amazing storyteller. He made it seem like I was right there with him and the others. I also learned that Leo can catch fire, like, on command. I was really glad he hadn't done that when I attacked him at dinner last night. Over the course of his stories, I realized that Leo was a pretty cool guy.

"Hey Kat, it's almost dinnertime. You ready to get out of here?" Dinner? I had spent almost all day in here listening to Leo? It barely felt like it had been more than a few hours. I nodded back to him in response and quickly climbed down to meet him.

I was a little disappointed we didn't take the cool tubes that Percy had taken earlier. We just went out the front door.

Somewhere between his workshop and camp, Leo started to speed up.

"We are a little later than I thought. Are you cool with running?"

In response, I ran past him.

We ran the rest of the way through the forest, which I knew pretty well since Percy got lost so many times, and got to the dining pavilion just in time to get something to eat. I gave a few fish sticks to Hephaestus as a thank you for Leo Valdez before sitting down at the table.

"Oh my gosh, capture the flag two nights in a row? Demeter and Apollo cabins must be gearing up for a rematch," Percy said excitedly.

"They just can't wait to be defeated again," Piper said with confidence and a smirk.

"Ooouch," Leo commented. "Burn."

"Piper's got Aphrodite trained to win," Jason remarked.

"You betcha babe," Piper said with a wink. "Hey Katrina, have you thought about joining us tonight?"

I was definitely expecting the question, but I hadn't decided yet. I sort of shrugged and munched on a fry.

"Okay. Last night was understandable with all you went through. I mean, I would be exhausted. But it's a ton of fun," Percy said.

"You'd like it. Tons of adrenaline. And it helps all of us get out our angry energy so we don't kill Leo like you almost did," Jason said.

The table erupted into laughter. I joined in as well as I could.

"TWICE!" Leo exclaimed, holding up two fingers. The laughter grew in volume and Percy was dying.

"Haha. No, but really," Jason continued, "It's great."

I signed, _Maybe_. Percy was still dying of laughter, but it seemed like everyone understood that one alright. Though I said maybe, I had already decided I was going to go. I was itching to get back into a fight.

After dinner, I rushed back to Hermes to find Will. I saw him walking up to the cabin. I ran up and grabbed his shoulders.

"Hey! I haven't seen you all day," he grinned, "Are you playing tonight?"

I nodded excitedly.

"That's great!" Will exclaimed, "Let's find you some armor."

It didn't take long to find some. Soon, I was battle ready. I had even managed to get _Anaklusmos II_ out without anyone seeing. Will and I went out to the forest with the rest of the Hermes cabin, ready for anything.

I didn't actually know how to play capture the flag. I assumed you had to capture a flag, but beyond that, I was clueless.

And I didn't really get any explanation either.

Suddenly, I was in the middle of the forest and everyone was gone, running in different directions. It was dark, and I couldn't see anything else. I couldn't yell for anyone either.

Now, I was in survival mode. I had to find my team. Deciding a bird's eye view was my best option, I climbed the nearest tree. It was difficult with my, armor but I managed fine. I jumped from branch to branch as silently as I could, looking below me until I spotted someone coming my way. Thank the gods it was Will. He was going head-to-head with someone a lot bigger than him. I was close to being right on top of them. I waited a few moments and planned my attack.

Then, I dropped. I dropped right on the back of a large girl, most likely from Ares. This definitely threw her off balance. She staggered as I shifted my body weight back and forth until I got her on the ground. I rolled off of her before she hit the dust and I got up, attempting to mouth the word run. But Will looked at me with confusion. The girl regained her composure and came back with anger. I was ready though. I met her spear with my blade and simultaneously swept her legs from under her. Then I turned around, grabbed Will by the hand, and ran.

"What are you doing? Do you have a plan?" Will yelled. All I could do is look back at him. I recognized that I had no clue where I was running or what was supposed to be done. So I let go of Will and ran faster. I ran because I needed to run. I ran to get away from humiliation and I ran because I had no clue what to do. I didn't need to be here. So I ran until I got to the edge of the forest. I stopped at the armory and took off my battle clothes. Then, I returned to the deserted Hermes cabin and went to sleep. That night, it was Will looking at me like I was insane. That's all I dreamt of until the sun woke me up in the morning.


	6. Chapter 6

**Again, I am so in awe of you all. Thank you so much for the support. If you'll keep reading, I'll keep posting. I have about 21 chapters of this stuff so far so hold on to your hats! I can't wait to see what you have to say about this one and how many of you could tell what was coming ;) No spoilers.**

 **Happy Reading!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything you recognize (Riordan).**

 **-c.c.**

* * *

I woke up a little earlier than the day before. I wanted to be outside again. Definitely needed some me time before I had to talk to anyone. Today, I was going to see the campers at Demeter's Cabin. Gardening has always peaked my interest, but Demeter never agreed to show me how herself. I didn't want to go to breakfast, but I knew I had to. If I didn't, there would just be a lot more questions later.

People were starting to wake up, so I went down to the dock. I saw it from the cabin the day before, but I hadn't had the time to see it yesterday. I needed an excuse to get away anyways.

The sea was pretty peaceful; I was immediately calmed by it. It was steady and followed a nice pattern. Tide in, tide out, almost like a heartbeat. I needed something constant like that with the craziness that had become my life over the past two days. I wondered how Percy and Annabeth were doing. Not the ones here. My actual parents Percy and Annabeth. I wanted to know how their life was. I wanted to know what I should be doing instead of living this life that I was never supposed to have. It seems so messed up sometimes. I am here to suffer, endure a homeless, mute life and save the world, and then start life all over again without the certainty that it will be different the next time.

My thoughts were interrupted by the bell for breakfast.

I didn't want to see anyone. I thought about sitting at another table. As I got my pancakes, I looked at all of the campers, trying to find a spot that wasn't too dangerous. Will's table was way too risky; he'd ask about last night and what the hell I was doing. Percy's table was not the best choice. They'd ask how I liked it. Then I saw Nico, sitting at the end of an empty table. That was definitely my best bet. So I quickly sacrificed my hash browns to Poseidon to thank him for the ocean and briskly walked over and sat down across from him. I went ahead and began to eat. He looked up at me and then back down at his food. It was an egg McMuffin and some hash browns. We ate in silence until Nico got up. On his way to the trash, he dropped his McMuffin wrapper on my lap. I waited until he was gone, and then I opened it.

I'm waiting Shadowgirl.

At the bottom it had the same slash pattern as before. He wanted me to go see him. I had no clue why though.

I got up and threw my breakfast away. I wasn't really hungry enough to finish it. I just wanted to go find someone in Demeter who could teach me to be good with plants.

So I walked around until I found the strawberry fields. I sat on a log and looked out at the expanse of green. It was very pretty. I wish I knew how to grow them myself. If I had known before, maybe I would have been able to eat better on the streets.

"Hello."

The voice startled me. I looked up to see a girl who resembled myself, strangely enough: long, straight blonde hair and light freckles across her cheeks. But her eyes were dark brown. Mine were gray. She looked extremely kind, and her smile was bright and welcoming.

I waved hello and smiled. She sat next to me on the log, balancing a basket of vegetables on her lap.

"I don't think I've seen you here before, what's your name?" she asked.

I looked at her and bit my lip. I just signed my name and hoped for the best.

"Oh, I know who you are," she giggled and continued, "You are Katrina, the girl who fought the minotaur. And you are mute, but guess what?" She looked at me with a big grin and I looked back extremely confused. "I bet if you could talk," she started, "you would have an amazing voice."

My eyes got wide. I pointed to myself and mouthed, ' _me_?'

She giggled again. "Yes, you. Haha I can just tell that about some people."

We both looked back at the strawberry fields. Me, a beautiful voice? I had never wondered what my voice would sound like.

"My name is Katie, by the way," the girl said. "Katie Gardner, head of Cabin 4. That's Demeter, in case you didn't remember."

I liked her. I liked her alot.

I mouthed slowly, ' _It is nice to meet you.'_

"Haha it's nice to meet you too." She stood up. "Hey, do you want a tour? I could even sneak you a few strawberries," she offered with a wink.

I nodded eagerly and got up to walk with her. The day was just beginning to grow hot, so we took rests often. Katie showed me the strawberries and introduced me to the workers. Most were from Demeter — they pretty much owned the strawberry business — but a lot were volunteers from other cabins. The strawberries were delicious too. The best part was that she never asked any personal questions. Instead, she told me about the fertilizer and tilling methods they used on the soil. Or how they were experimenting with picking patterns to see if one brought better growth. It was a very complicated process, but interesting. However, when we sat down to pick some berries, I couldn't get it. They popped off so easily for Katie. I pulled and pulled and pulled. I accidentally ripped an entire plant out, roots and all. Katie definitely freaked out. She set out right away trying to get it back in the ground. Once it was back in, she decided maybe I wasn't cut out to pick yet. Katie was still kind about it though. She even helped me find Will afterwards. I still felt horrible. Couldn't even pick a strawberry.

Katie left me at the archery range where Will was practicing. I watched for a while before letting him know I was there. He was hitting bulls-eye after bulls-eye. I was impressed. I bet he could even pick strawberries without taking out the whole plant. Finally, I allowed myself to be known. I walked over to the side next to the fence where he could see me in his peripheral.

"Katrina! I was looking for you this morning. Where did you go? Percy said he hadn't seen you either." Will put down his bow to talk to me.

I shrugged and smiled, trying to act cool. He walked up to the fence that separated us.

"Are you alright? You were acting strange at the game last night."

I tried really hard to conceal every hurt I had. I was pretty good at that at least. I nodded and smiled. I was definitely fine.

He looked at me with concern before shaking it off.

"If you say so. Hey, do you want to try?" Will asked, offering me his bow and quiver.

Did I want to fail at yet another thing? No. Was I going to anyway? Probably.

I shook my head and made a sheepish smile.

"Come on Katrina, don't worry. It's not hard."

So is picking a strawberry, I thought to myself. But his pleading eyes were way too difficult to say no to. Reluctantly, I hopped over the fence and took the equipment. Will helped me put the quiver over my head and showed me how to hold the bow. He stood really close to me and held each of my hands, directing them where to go. I could feel his breath on my neck. Suddenly, the words he said became slurred and my knees became weak. All I could focus on was his chest pressed up to my back and his fingers guiding mine. Then, the bowstring snapped back into place from where I held it, and I jumped, caught off guard.

"See it's not that bad," Will said stepping away. "Now you try, with an arrow this time."

I might have been able to, if I could remember anything he had said. Not wanting to look like a fool, I grabbed an arrow and placed it in my bow. I just let it happen naturally. It must have been the right way, because Will didn't say anything. I aimed at my target, a little black dot surrounded by alternating white and red circles. I breathed in, and when I exhaled, I let go of the string. _SNAP!_

And the arrow went high and far. A lot higher and farther than the target. I sighed and put my head in my hands. Will ran up to me and grabbed the bow from me.

"Hey, it's okay. That was only the first one. Let's try again. I'll help this time."

He put the bow back in my hands and resumed showing me how to load my arrow and aim.

"AAHGH!" someone screamed from a few range slots over. Will let go of me instantly and ran to the fence. I followed him.

"Hey!" Will exclaimed looking frantically for the victim. "Hey! Don't touch him! Don't touch him!"

Will ran out of the range and towards the sound. I raced to keep up with him. We entered a range and Will immediately got down on his knees in front of a smaller camper, around ten or eleven, with and arrow in his arm.

"It's okay kid, don't worry. It'll be fine. I need someone to get me a clean knife and some bandage wraps now!" Will yelled to some bystanders, "Just focus on breathing kid. Big breath in for me, and out."

Will got the kid to breathe normally and the materials soon arrived.

"Katrina, I need you to come hold his head."

I dropped the bow by the fence and swung myself over. I kneeled near the face of the boy and cradled his head in my knees and hands.

"Cover his eyes and let him hold onto your arm with his other hand."

I quickly guided his right hand to my left arm and he began to squeeze. Will ripped the bottom of his own shirt and wrapped it tight around the boy's arm, right above the arrow.

"This will hurt okay? And it is alright to scream. Just focus on breathing for me okay?"

The boy nodded. Will made a few small incisions to weasel the arrow out of the boy's arm. To my surprise, he didn't scream, but he held onto my arm like there was no tomorrow. Soon, the arrow was out, and Will bandaged the wound. By that time, some campers came and led the boy off to the infirmary. Will stood up to brush the dirt from his pants, when suddenly he was enveloped in a bright yellow light. Campers gathered around as a golden lyre, the symbol of the god Apollo, appeared above his head. Will looked around in awe. Everyone around began to clap, shouting words of encouragement and praise to Will. I clapped for him as well. Will, son of Apollo.

Chiron soon came to see the newly claimed demigod. He first had to wait for all of Will's brothers and sisters to get off of him. I was still sitting on the ground when the Apollo cabin came and tackled Will and I got caught in the fray.

"Well Will, it's been a long wait hasn't it?" Chiron addressed Will with joy.

"Yes Chiron, it has," Will responded, blushing.

"Is it what you had expected?"

"Sir, I knew the whole time."

"Well your acts of kindness and bravery have definitely proven you to be a worthy son of Apollo. And I am pleased to see that your family has welcomed you in with loving arms already."

"Me too."

"I expect to see you moving into the Apollo cabin quickly, we have more campers coming than ever and we need the room in Hermes. Understood?"

"Yes Chiron," Will replied.

"Good," Chiron said. "And Will?" he asked as he turned to leave.

"Yes?"

"I am happy to see that you've found out where you finally belong."

An unreadable message passed between the two of them as Chiron left and the crowd dispersed, everyone buzzing about Will and his claiming. Will turned to look at me with an enormous smile on his face. He reached a hand out to help me get off of the ground.

I mouthed to him, ' _Wow_.'

"I-I know right?" he stuttered.

I wanted to tell him so much. That was amazing, everything that he just did. He was outstanding! He moved with knowledge and instinct and he did not let the energy of the moment throw him off guard. No wonder he was so good at music and medicine and archery. No wonder he was so funny and quirky. No wonder his smile was as bright as the sun. I should have known all along.

"Do you want to help me pack?" he asked me.

I nodded with a huge smile on my face. I was so excited for him. He turned to lead the way back to Hermes cabin when I felt a tug on my arm. That's when we both realized that he was still holding onto my hand. His expression grew frightful and his face turned bright red. He let go and started to stutter in an explanation. I simply smiled and put a finger to his lips. He stopped muttering and looked at me curiously. Then I motioned for him to come on, and we walked back to the cabin.

Will had quite a bit of stuff to move, but with some help from the Apollo cabin, we managed to box everything up and get it set up at his new bunk. Will smiled the entire time. He was giddy with excitement. It was definitely hard work, and we all missed dinner, but we didn't mind. We were all happy for Will.

I walked back to Hermes cabin afterwards, by myself. I felt like something was missing. I knew I had everything though. I didn't take anything over to Will's except myself. I tried to ignore the feeling, but it wouldn't go away. I got to the cabin and took a shower. I was sweaty from moving all of those boxes. Still, the feeling persisted. I checked that I had my painting and the things in my box and everything was in its place. So I got into bed and sat with my pillow in my lap. Out of habit, I looked over at Will's old bunk. Suddenly, everything made sense. I did leave something in the Apollo cabin. I had forgotten something. It was Will. I left Will there. It had only been three days, but Will had become something vital and important to me. He was someone I felt comfortable with and someone who could help me feel like I didn't have a disability. He treated me like I was a normal girl. I really liked Will. I knew that from the start. But now that he was gone, it had to have been something more. I might not get to see him much anymore either, with him living across the camp. I stared at Will's empty bed and thought of him.

A tear fell from my eye, and I realized that I loved him.

It'd just been a couple of days, but I knew it.

I loved Will, who was now a son of Apollo.


	7. Chapter 7

**Okay people, moving forward. Please review this one and let me know how you're feeling about this one. It's a little short and pretty melodramatic, but I promise it will set the story up for later on. Let me know you guys are still reading.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything you recognize (Riordan)**

 **-c.c.**

* * *

I woke up the next morning and got out of the cabin as soon as I could. It was hard looking at Will's empty bed. All I could think of were the feelings I had for him and how I was so unsure of how to deal with them. I did know, however, that Will was still my friend. I made sure that I saw him often throughout each day as they came and went. He was starting to work more with medicine and help out in the infirmary. I would go to keep him company when there were no patients, and he would get a chance to tell me about all of the new things he was learning and doing with the rest of the Apollo kids. He always had a great story to tell, and it was really nice just being able to to sit and listen to him. (I found out his last name finally! It was Holmes, Will Holmes) Unfortunately, the feelings I had for him only grew. It wasn't my fault that his eyes were gorgeous and his smile lit up the room or that he was just fabulous at story telling.

Also, I realized that I sucked at pretty much everything at camp. And believe me, I tried everything. Multiple times. Katie and I became pretty good friends, but to this day I cannot pick a strawberry without pulling the plant up by the roots. I tried music with Will's siblings, I tried magic with the daughters of Hecate, we already knew I wasn't pretty enough to fit in with the girls at Aphrodite, and for all I was worth I was not a metal bender like Leo. I had started to accept that I was just not good at anything, even though I would never give up trying, when I overheard Annabeth talking to Piper one day at lunch.

"You would not believe Phoebe, Annabeth. All she ever talks about is that dang book you gave her," Piper said while rolling her eyes.

"You say it like it's a bad thing," Annabeth retorted and snickered.

"It is!" Piper cried. "It's so funny though, she's trying to get Mark to read it, and you know how hard it is for him to say no to her."

"Haha! Well, let me know when she gets him hooked, he can join us for the book club this afternoon and I'll get him a copy."

Both of the girls were laughing, and all I could do was smile. I hadn't heard of there being a book club before, but it was put on by Athena's cabin, so I wasn't surprised. I couldn't talk, and I couldn't write too well, but I could read. If there was one thing I could do, it was definitely read. When you live on the streets for so long, you have a lot of free time. You would not believe the amount of old books people throw out. I promise you, I have read them all. I've read children's books, Snicket, Shakespeare, Doyle. Anything you can name, I've read it. This was my chance to prove that I could do something. I asked Piper later about when the meeting was. She seemed a little hesitant in sharing that information, but eventually I got it out of her. I showed up a little late (I had lost track of time with Will in the infirmary), but I was so excited. This might be my chance to prove to Annabeth, and myself, that I wasn't completely useless.

I walked up to the door of Athena and knocked. Annabeth opened it.

"Oh. Hi Katrina. What do you need?" she asked, clearly annoyed that I had interrupted.

I sort of shuffled my feet, nervous about asking. But I pointed inside the cabin, made a book with my hands, and then hesitantly pointed to myself with a smile.

"Oh," Annabeth said slowly as she looked around awkwardly. She put the book she had in her hands behind her back.

"Katrina, I know you think that this would be fun or whatever you think, but the point of the club is to read the book _out loud_ with everyone and _discuss_ it as a group. You see, that involves talking."

Oh.

I pointed to my ears. I could still listen at least. That was definitely something I was great at. Mostly. I knew the sign was vague, but she got the idea.

"Um, you know, I think it's best if you don't come in. It's too distracting as it is," Annabeth said rather quickly as she turned to go back inside. Then, she paused for a moment and looked straight at me, her eyes piercing into my mind. "It would be better if you went and did something else you could be good at."

She slammed the door shut behind her.

Honestly, I was shocked.

I wondered why I expected any different.

I loved to read. I _was good_ at reading. Annabeth didn't know anything. Hell, she wouldn't even let me sit and listen! Of all the people in the world I could go around disappointing, it had to be her. She never acknowledged me. She never talked to me unless she had to. And what had I ever done to her? For Hades sake my own _mother_ didn't want me around! I had tried so hard to stay on her good side with everything. But after that… I was done.

How could I go and do something I was good at, when I wasn't good at anything at all?

I realized I was still standing outside the door of Athena. I had to go somewhere, and it had to be soon; I could feel the tears gather in my eyes. I walked briskly away from the spot where I had been enveloped in so much anger and embarrassment and hurt. Nothing stopped me. I just kept walking. I had no clue where I was going, but the movement helped to calm me down. The tears rolled off my cheeks with the wind, barely leaving a trace. I was at the dock, but the sea reminded me of my parentage and I kept walking. Past the strawberry fields full of red fruit I would never pick, and away from the archery range with targets I would never hit, and far from the forest where the odds of the game were never in my favor.

Suddenly, I was at the edge of camp, standing next to a large pine tree. The tree was my only hope on that day I fought the minotaur. I thought to myself, as the bees blistered my skin, that if I got past that tree, everything would fall into place and things would start to look up for a change.

I looked up to the top of the tree.

Too hopeful. Too naive.

Immediately I became angry. Not at Annabeth, not at Percy, not even at the gods. I was angry at myself.

Why wasn't I good with metal?

Why couldn't I hit the target?

My temper flared.

Why wasn't I pretty enough?!

My fingers curled into fists.

Why couldn't I pick a single strawberry?!

My cheeks became stained wet with tears.

I can't play music.

I can't make art.

Why couldn't I be good at _something_?

Just one thing.

My fists shook with angry energy.

Why couldn't I speak.

I looked down at my knuckle which was now stained with blood. The same blood that was also smeared on the trunk of the pine tree.

My knees buckled, and I covered my face with my hands.

And I was in love with Will Holmes. How could ever expect him to love someone as worthless as I have discovered myself to be? My heart was doomed and my mind was condemned. How could I ever expect him to say, 'I love you', to someone who could never say it back to him. The tears streamed out of my eyes more easily now, and I did not attempt to hide them. I had accepted the failure I had become, and I was so, so disappointed in myself.

The bell rang for dinner. I wanted to be alone so badly. But sometimes you just have to hide what hurts and go. I had already pulled myself together by the time I reached Hermes to wash the blood off of my hand, and I had plastered a smile onto my face by the time I reached the dining pavilion. I had pizza that night. The gods had done little for me since I arrived, but my failure wasn't their fault. So I picked off all of the olives and sent them flying into the fire as a prayer to Hades that my unavoidable trip to the underworld would be rescheduled to a sooner date.

I was about ready to sit down at the table in the seat next to Percy, when I caught a glimpse of Annabeth in the corner of my eye. Her eyes were sharp and filled with disgust and hatred. It was a glare that would send anyone, even the largest boys from Ares, running. So I turned on my heel and went quickly the other way, trying to prevent the tears from reentering the atmosphere. This landed me at a mostly empty table. I sat on the end and quickly picked at my pizza. Out of nowhere, Nico came and sat beside me, plopping down a bag of french fries and double cheeseburgers. I was in no mood to even look at the Ghost King, and he was in no mood to look at me either. I did, however, catch him looking at my knuckle, which was still bleeding slightly. Still, I said nothing. I didn't care. He could look at me all he wanted and I wouldn't give a shit. However, the next minute I turned to face him and the seat was empty, save for a wadded up cheeseburger wrapper. Out of instinct, I opened it.

You coming?

 **/ / / /**

The slash pattern seemed more deeply engraved in the paper, like it was almost torn through. I had to go see him. No more of this mysterious cheeseburger business. I was going to see Nico that day. But I knew the rules; no boys and girls from different cabins alone in a cabin together. So, I would just have to wait. There was another game tonight. I would go during the game. Nico never played anyway, or so I had heard. Where else would he be but in his cabin? At that point, I cared very little for the rules. I was going to get to the bottom of this.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys! Can't wait for you to read this chapter. For those of you wondering where Will Solace is... now you will know. SO much excite. SUCH little time. GO READ IT.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything you recognize (Riordan)**

 **-c.c.**

* * *

The Hades cabin seemed much more intimidating in the dark. In the daylight, you could tell it was Hades' because of the pitch black marble and creepy gargoyle statues watching from the distinctly greek rooftop. But in the dark, it screamed Underworld. Honestly, I didn't want to go inside, but I was emotionally compromised by my earlier struggle, and so I made the completely stupid decision to go for it.

The outside of the cabin was immaculate; there was no dirt on the steps, and it just looked clean. I came up to the large door and looked for the doorknob. Of course, there wasn't one. I wanted to turn around. I wanted to forget all that had happened and go back to my alley and live in peace. I took out the wadded up hamburger wrapper from dinner and gulped nervously.

You coming?

 **/ / / /**

I tried the code.

One knock.

Three knocks.

One knock.

One knock.

I stood there for as long as I could stand to be there, alone and in the dark, but Nico never came to the door. Then, I decided I was done. It was scary as Hades out here. Literally.

If Nico wanted to talk to me, he could use his voice. At least he had one.

I turned to run off the steps when I heard a small creak. I looked behind me, the door still seemed closed. Emotionally compromised Katrina made another stupid mistake and walked back up to the door. Bracing for any trap that probably came with this freaky cabin, I placed my palm on the face of the door, and slightly pushed. With the small force in my hand, the door gently swung back about an inch.

I was in.

Wrapping my fingers around the door's edge, I opened it a little farther so I could peek my head through. The room was mostly black, as expected, with the exception of a candle lit on a desk at the far end of the room. Because of it, a large bed with black and maroon glossy sheets could be seen with a large dark gray knit canopy over it. There was also a simple matte gray dresser on the wall opposite the bed. The floor was a dark wood. I could feel the chill coming from the floorboards through my boots, which was strange. Hades was usually associated with fire and heat, not cold. The walls were a dark gray, and there was a window over the desk covered by a deep red curtain. Nico was nowhere to be seen.

The whole reason I was here was to see him. The considerate part of me thought it was wrong to intrude on his living space without him there. The scared part of me wanted to get the hell out. But I walked into the room, leaving the door opened at a crack, simply because of what I saw on the desk at the other side of the room.

As I walked, the floors were silent and nothing stirred. No traps were activated, no skeletons came out of the closet, and the walls did not melt in a fiery haze. I approached the desk and reached out to move a few papers to the side. Underneath was a bright golden journal.

Here goes emotionally-compromised Katrina again.

I slowly pulled out the simple black chair from under the desk and sat down. The cover wasn't very shiny, but it was assertively yellow, something I would have never associated with Nico. It had to be his though. I wanted to open it. I wanted to unmask the truth behind Nico and his cheeseburgers and fries. I wanted to know the Ghost King, and I wanted to get inside his head.

So I opened the book. Not page one, though still somewhere in the beginning.

And I found poetry.

He wrote beautiful things. His words reminded me of pastels and shimmering water and rain. They were bright and lovely. I would have never thought such things could come from Nico, son of Hades. It was gorgeous. Immediately, I was lost in the rhyme and rhythm of his words and the scratches of pen on paper. I read, and who knows how long I read for.

I kept on going until suddenly, the cover slammed shut, a pale, skinny hand now resting upon it. I jumped up in fear and backed away from Nico Di Angelo, who only looked at the book.

"I presume you've read enough," he said calmly. He picked up the book and slid it into the top drawer of the desk. "You needed it. I know," he said in continuance, "anger is hollowing, and it is nice to be filled up with beautiful things after something like that."

He looked up at me.

I couldn't tell what he was after. But I wasn't afraid anymore.

"You can't always stop the tears, and I think you've realized that." He was walking toward me. "I know you tried to deal with them the best you could, but for some reason the sea was too much for you to handle and you were haunted by every other place you tried." He still looked at me but stopped about two feet away. Today? How had he known where I had been? I was sure I was alone. I knew I was alone!

"It was probably better you had kept moving though, because when you stopped you started to think. Never think. Thinking leads to anger-" he gestured to my knuckle, "which leads to violence."

How the hell did he know?! I could feel my temper rage and my ears grow hot. He talked about anger. Well now he'd got it.

"Calm down Katrina. I know this because I was there." He said turning around. Suddenly, I was calmed, just by those words. All hatred and fiery feelings died inside of me and were replaced with a cool warmth. He walked over to the end of his bed. "You may be the Shadow Girl," and he stared into my eyes by the light of the candle, "but I am the shadows."

He motioned toward the chair I had just gotten out of.

"You might want to take a seat."

For some horrible reason, I trusted him. He was not condemning or snotty; he seemed understanding, though also mysterious. And it was for that reason I walked in front of him and took a seat at his desk, facing him. He moved and sat on the bed, facing me.

"You shouldn't be alarmed, and I am saying this because I know you aren't, but I am not going to pretend like everything is fine. I know your life. You never saw me unless I wanted you to, but I was there, and I lived it with you. Anything after that first time you saw me, I was with you." He paused for a moment. "Um… not in a creepy way," his face shifted into a sheepish expression. "Look, all I'm saying is, please don't be surprised that I know things, and don't be afraid of who you are around me. I know you. I've seen almost every part of you, and I accept all of it."

He looked up at me with dark eyes, and I knew he was sincere. Everything he said was crazy and strange, but I believed him. It may have been foolish to be so trusting of someone who just admitted they had stalked you for almost three years, but at that moment, I felt as though he was my only friend.

He knew a lot about me though, and I knew almost nothing about him.

"Did you like my writing?" Nico asked.

I nodded slowly.

"Thank you," he said. "I wish we could talk about it, but we aren't to that point yet."

I looked at him quizzically, he just shook his head.

"You know it didn't start that way, all positive and stuff," he laughed. "This stuff is recent, but I've been writing for years." Nico proceeded to reach over to my left and open the top drawer of the desk. Instead of the yellow book he put in, he pulled out a black one and handed it to me. "This was the beginning."

I opened up to the first page:

It's all his fault.

I looked up at Nico.

"My sister and I were found by Annabeth and Percy. We went on a quest with them and she was killed." He said it simply and with very little emotion, most likely because he was holding it back. "I was young and blamed her death on Percy. I was angry for so long. I had looked up to him and trusted him. When Bianca died, I lost all of that admiration."

I knew he wouldn't understand, but I signed. _I'm sorry._

"I'm at peace with it now," he said, looking past me and into nothing. He looked down when he came back to the present. "But it began a long journey through depression for me. It was something I couldn't escape for a long time."

He started with a new purpose, like there was a lesson to be learned at the end.

"Writing was how I coped. It still is, but I'm better now. This book," he said pointing to the black one in my hand, "was everything from that time. Everything dark and cold that I felt, everything terrible and broken was morphed into words and scratched out on paper. A lot of those pages are stained with tears."

He looked at me with a fierce intensity. He seemed angry at himself. No doubt what he wrote was unhealthy. I had been reading while he talked. It was dark and expressive, and I could feel every hurt he had, all his pain was right there in the open for me to read. Why would he do this? Why would he show me, of all people, this secret and personal thing?

"You are almost to the next stage," he said, pointing to the page I was on. So I flipped a few more pages.

"There," he said.

On the page it read:

Who does he think he is?

And what do I do?

I like him.

I looked up at Nico expectantly. And I saw him smile, for the first time. It was sweet and innocent too.

"You know how you have your Will?"

I immediately blushed and turned away, a smile across my face. Nico let out a small laugh.

"Well, I have mine." Nico said, blushing as well. I smiled great big. That was so cute. Big strong Ghost King had a boyfriend.

"Sons of Apollo are hard to resist, huh?" he laughed again. I nodded slightly in agreement. "He was the one who brought me out of my depression. He saved me from myself. I would have ruined my mind, my heart, even more than I already had if I hadn't met Will Solace at the end of the battle with Gaia. He didn't try to change me or my character, and he accepted me for what I was. Will helped me become a better person, making the best of my circumstances. But for a long time I was confused with my feelings. Most of this writing is me rejecting the feelings I had for Will. I had bad experiences with feelings before…" He trailed off for a second. I wonder what had happened? And with who? But he was back again. "...and I was hesitant to get into something else with Solace. I denied my feelings for so long, but he brought me out of my shell. Will made me feel real and alive, and I knew that I really loved him. Will was my reason to live for so long. He was my only true friend."

Wait. Was?

Nico smiled slightly, sadly.

"I lost Will about a year ago."

Oh my gods, and to myself I thought, I'm so sorry Nico.

"There was a special case with a certain demigod outside the city limits of New York, right next to the edge of camp actually. He had refused our earlier offer to come to the camp, but he was being assaulted by monsters left and right. Then, he came into contact with some nasty creatures. I can't remember what they were, but he was badly wounded and losing. That's when he called for our help. Will had the best combat and medical experience," Nico drew a long breath and sighed. "He was always the best that they had." His smile was replaced with pursed lips and misty eyes. He looked away for a second to compose himself.

I reached out across the gap and took the Ghost King's hand.

He looked back at me, then closed his eyes, forcing a tiny smile. A tear fell, and he laughed hesitantly, succumbing to the harsh feelings of loss.

Nico breathed in deep once more.

"He volunteered to go, saying that sending more than one camper would make the demigod more bitter towards us. The council agreed, and he started off. I made sure I said goodbye before he left. I didn't know anything bad would happen, but I'm so glad I made him hug me one last time."

He looked up at me.

"I miss his arms, Shadow Girl. I miss feeling safe when he held me. And I would give anything to see him smile again." Nico's lip quivered as he spoke. He was still in love with his son of Apollo. I could tell he would never stop loving him.

"The battle went badly," he continued with staggered breaths, "but they pulled it out. The stubborn kid was unconscious and Will attempted to dress his wounds the best he could, but he had been hurt too. A blow to the side of the head and a sword to his side." He smiled in pride. "Will carried that demigod all of the way back to camp. He collapsed as soon as he passed the tree, like you did, but he wasn't as lucky as you were." Even through this, Nico smiled. "He died from his injuries the next day. But the kid he saved recovered and is now at the camp. You may have seen him. His name is Philip. He's a son of Athena."

"I was angry for a while, that Philip survived and not Will. But Will would have been devastated if Philip had died too. He cared too much about his patients, and it would have killed him twice over to know that he had died and been unable to save that kid."

"He cared too much, and that is why I love him."

Nico looked down and began to cry again.

I didn't know what to think. I was still so confused as to why I was there. Nico had just let me in on, probably the most personal thing he's ever gone through. He obviously felt like he could trust me, but I had no clue what to do with all of this information.

He lifted his head.

"I digress. This is where I meant to go." He reached over to the desk and pulled out the yellow notebook.

"I bought this when Will passed. He had always tried to get me to focus my writing on things that were more positive. To get out of this black book." He handed me the yellow one. "I knew it was what he would have wanted. I became a better person because of Will Solace. Just because he's gone doesn't mean I'm going to disrespect all he's done for me by relapsing."

That was true love. Doing the hard things, even when your motivation was gone, even when there was nothing left to fight for but a memory.

"I'm going to help you write," Nico said staring straight at me.

"I got you something."

He got up from the bed and he walked over to his closet by the door and pulled out a box. He dug through it and came back with something wrapped in brown butcher paper. Nico set it on my lap.

I knew what it was. Still, I unwrapped it carefully. Of course, underneath the brown was a light blue notebook, the same color as the early morning sky.

It was perfect.

"I know you can't write well, but that will change. You are important. I can sense it," he looked on me with curious intent, "and I am going to make sure you are able to communicate with Chiron. Also, I could tell that today you were struggling. You have been for a while, but you try your hardest to never acknowledge it and always look at the bright side."

Nico reached over and grabbed my knuckle that had scabbed over.

"But when you can't handle it anymore, when things are too embarrassing or too hard, you won't have to do this anymore. Words are dangerous, but it is better than violence in most cases."

I looked at his pale fingers wrapped around my fist. Nico was hard and unflinching to the world, but to me he was kind and compassionate. Brotherly. I could imagine I was one of the only people, maybe the only person, he had been this way around. So I looked him in the eye and nodded with confidence. I would use this book covered in morning sky, and I would practice my penmanship. Then, I could get what I was here to do over with, and maybe I could get out of here.

I mouthed the words thank you. Nico smiled.

"Don't mention it Shadow Girl," he said, returning the small edge to his tone.

"You'll need a pen." He reached into the second desk drawer and pulled out a black ball point pen. "You can come whenever you want, I bounce around a lot though, so I won't always be here. I assume you've realized that we can't act like this ever happened." He looked at me coldly. I understood, and I knew he would not speak with me outside this room. I would need to be careful of when I came and who saw me. As long as he was willing to put in the hours to help me practice, I was willing to be as secretive as necessary.

After all, I was the Shadow Girl.

So I left. I was careful to avoid the harpies and any guards who may have been up, and I made it into my bed at Hermes safely and quietly. It was way past the game, maybe two or three in the morning. A lot had happened, almost too much to take in.

Strangely enough, I felt better. About everything. I was going to communicate, and it was going to be without the help of Annabeth Chase. I was going to love Will Holmes no matter what happened, because Nico proved to me that love prevailed against all odds. I was going to fulfill my quest and save this wretched generation, and go home at last to my real family and meet my real parents. And maybe, just maybe, things will be different next time.


	9. Chapter 9

**I just wanted to make sure I said thank you to all of you faithful people who come consistently to follow my story. Knowing that even a few people really care makes all of the difference in the world.**

 **And hey, you people who read it but I don't know you read it. Yeah, you. Leave a comment! Tell me how you feel! I can't know that you hate it or love it if you don't tell me ;)**

 **Now, onto a little character development. Things should pick up in a few chapters so watch out.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything you recognize (Riordan)**

 **-c.c.**

* * *

I woke up completely exhausted. The sun came up and made the Hermes cabin bright with light. My body pleaded for five more minutes. I waited until all of the other Hermes kids got up and out before even opening my eyes. In near silence, I was able to groggily get ready and wake up more before the bell rang for breakfast. There wasn't much food when I arrived since I was late, but I was so tired I didn't care all that much. I grabbed toast, which I sacrificed to Hypnos because sleep was important, and a pack of cookies and cream pop tarts, which I took over to Percy's table.

"Someone slept in a little, huh," Percy joked as I plopped myself down next to him.

In response, I let my head fall on to the table.

"Haha, what did you even do last night?" Jason asked. I lifted up my head and turned to face Percy in response.

I signed, _I stayed up way too late reading._

This was mostly truth, since I was reading Nico's poems. Percy translated for Jason.

"You know normal people go to sleep," snickered Jason.

I signed, _Guess I'm not like normal people_.

"That's true," Percy said. "But you're cooler than normal people too. That's why you fit in with us so nicely." The boys laughed and pointed at each other in clever realization.

Goodness gracious.

I just smiled and ate my pop tart, shaking my head at their egos. Breakfast went by quickly, and when I was finished, I went back to the cabin. Lucky for me, it was empty, meaning I could start working on my penmanship. I pulled out my new journal and pen from my box of possessions and sat down on my bed cross-legged. Starting is always the hardest part of any practice. I definitely did not know where to start.

I decided on the alphabet. I wrote the capital letter A. Or at least, my fingers were told to write an A, but the end result was most certainly not an A. I tried again. It looked the same as the first A.

I sighed. Well, practice makes progress. I continued to just write the letter A for six pages straight, which took me roughly an hour and a half. Periodically, I would look back and compare the last A I wrote with the first one. After a while, there was a considerable difference between them. However, it still didn't look good. This was going to take lot more work than I had realized.

A was also pissing me off, so I moved on to B. B was a lot harder because it involved curves, which were not my forte. But I practiced them just the same.

Let's just say that added to my frustrations. I worked on B for a while, went over to C, cried, tried B again, threw the notebook on the floor, punched my pillow, picked up the notebook, tried B one more time, and then gave up and lied down on the floor.

I needed to get out and do something.

So I decided to do the one thing that I knew I could do.

I got Riptide and went to the sword fighting ring. I didn't realize it, but I had missed the bell for lunch because I was so preoccupied writing. It was now early afternoon, when the sun was high and extremely hot. Honestly, I was ready to deal with the heat of Tartarus if it meant I got a break from practicing.

The court consisted of several rings for one-on-one fighting practice. It was usually monitored by instructors, but since it was so hot today no one was around. I didn't mind, I was used to practicing alone anyway. I made my way over to the obstacle area, a series of pressure sprung traps which were activated as you moved to avoid the other obstacles. I looked at the podium at the beginning of the course.

Difficulty: Beginner, Intermediate, Pro

I pushed the knob to Pro. Might as well start off by finding where my weak points were. The pillars and wheels started turning. I whipped out Riptide and ran straight in. I dodged two logs coming out from the sides and met the rotating spokes with my blade. I had no problem in avoiding the trip wires on the floor and easily ducked beneath a spontaneous limbo bar which swung into my path. Suddenly, it was over. I emerged about 50 feet away from where I started.

Well, I thought to myself, I guess I could have been faster.

Otherwise, that did absolutely nothing for me. I decided I would just stick to the practice dummies for now. I spent a good hour and a half beating the straw dummies to shreds. The heat made me sweat, but I didn't stop, hoping to build the stamina I would need when fighting. It was important to keep in shape and on top of strategy when you lived the life of a demigod. I stayed as long as I could before the other campers started to gather for a cool evening of practice.

I decided to go elsewhere. I wasn't ready to be bombarded with millions of teenagers quite yet. Somewhere there had to be some exercise equipment. If I didn't have any other talents, I knew I could at least fight and build muscle. After a little bit of wandering around the camp, I found a building off behind Ares cabin near the lake. Of course it would be around Ares cabin.

Remembering my awful night trying to get into the book club, I thought I should probably ask before using the Ares facilities. Maybe I could ask Percy to help me find that Ares girl I met with Annabeth. I think her name was Clarisse? At that moment, the bell for dinner tolled. I was starving since I had accidentally skipped lunch, so I ran to be one of the first in line for spaghetti and meatballs. I sacrificed the meatballs (my least favorite aspect of spaghetti) to Ares, in thanks for the talents he gave me in battle and for physical determination.

I sat down at the table Percy usually sat at and waited as the members accumulated one-by-one.

"Gosh," Piper said as she sat down next to me, "Do you ever eat? I barely see you at the dining pavilion these days." She smiled in jest at me, and I smiled in return. Jason sat down across from his girlfriend.

"Well, what do you know, the elusive girl has made a shocking appearance. Haha," Jason said with a wink.

Percy came and sat down across from me, sticking his hand out in greeting. Without thinking, I made the movements of the secret handshake my dad had taught me over iris message. Apparently, it wasn't something he had made up just for me. By finishing the shake, I made a huge mistake.

"What?!" Percy exclaimed with an open-mouthed smile. "Sick! Where did you learn that?!"

"Woah, dude, you mean you didn't teach it to her?" Jason asked in awe.

"No man, I'm serious. No lie here," Percy responded, then turned to me. "Do you know what just happened?"

I had just revealed something I definitely shouldn't have.

But I just shook my head no.

"That's, like, the best handshake of all time. I made it up like two years ago. How did you know it?"

"Yeah how did you do that?" Piper chimed in, "I've been trying to figure it out for months. Jason and Percy do it all the time."

Expectant eyes turned to me for an answer.

So I signed, _I don't know it just felt natural_.

"Nice!" Percy exclaimed and lifted his hand for a high five. I appeased him, and he finally took a seat next to Jason across from me. "Hey, I just noticed that you're actually here. Where do you keep going?" Percy asked while simultaneously shovelling spaghetti into his mouth. Annabeth came up from behind him and bopped him on the head.

"Calm down! The noodles aren't leaving anytime soon," She chided, sitting next to him. He slurped up his spaghetti and stuck his sauce-covered lips out for a kiss. Annabeth grinned and pushed him away with a snicker. Percy addressed me again.

"Should we just not expect to see you at meals anymore?" Percy laughed.

"No, we know exactly where she goes," Jason remarked.

"We do?"

Jason looked at Piper, and at the same time they said: "Will"

My cheeks turned red, and I smiled. I shook my head furiously and made an X symbol with my arms. The table erupted into laughter. "Oh come on Katrina," Piper said with a sly smirk, "The Aphrodite cabin talks about you two all the time. If Aphrodite picks up on it, it's usually true."

I signed quickly, _I wish_.

"Ah ha! So there is a little something there," Percy regarded me with a distasteful look. I could see the Dad in him at work. But he wasn't my dad. So he could piss off if he didn't like it.

I wasn't going to lie. I signed, _He's an Apollo boy, what can I say?_

Piper squealed and gave me a small side shove. "She's not even embarrassed," she paused for a moment. "Wait." Her face grew grave. Then she whispered softer, "Does he know?"

I shook my head and looked down at my plate.

"Oh love, don't worry. Just don't lose hope. Boys are clueless sometimes," she said with a glance at Jason.

"Hey!"

"Don't deny it, kid! It took you too long to figure out that I loved you."

"I mean-"

"Nope, not another word." Piper said this with her eyes closed and fork in the air. And Jason shut up.

"I personally wouldn't get your hopes up," Percy said. "It doesn't always work out so well."

That was definitely my dad right there. I was not happy about that, so I decided to change the subject.

I signed to Percy, _Is there a daughter of Ares named Clarisse?_

"Oh yeah, what about her? Did she give you a whirley? She did that to me once."

I signed. _No, I want to ask her about a weight room? Or something? Could you translate for me when I ask?_

"Um, I guess. I'm not sure where she's at though." He turned to Annabeth. "Do you know where Clarisse goes after dinner?"

Annabeth looked up from the novel she had pulled out and was reading. "Clarisse is the one who prepares the armor and weapons for games, Seaweed Brain. How long have you been going to this camp?"

"Hey, I have limited space for all this information. I only keep the important stuff. Knowing what Clarisse does with her life isn't part of that list," Percy looked at me. "Yeah, I can do that. Let's see if we can spot her now."

Getting to Clarisse didn't take long, and she was quite annoyed to be interrupted while she was cleaning and organizing her stash of weapons. She seemed quite excited to get me started with the weights though. Probably not in a good way. I wasn't the tallest or biggest person, so I had a feeling that starting tomorrow with her might be bad for me.

It was almost time for the game that I wouldn't be participating in, so I parted ways with Percy once we found Annabeth, who was already suited up. There were campers up the wahzoo in Hermes cabin trying to get ready. I just waited outside until most of them were gone before heading in.

The games were something I couldn't do. Not without a voice. Communication was necessary and not even Percy would be able to understand me in the dark. I wanted to play though. It was good practice for combat, and if you had it in for somebody, you could get all of your anger out. Honestly, I just really like the fighting.

But it was whatever. Sometimes we just need to work with the hand that is dealt to us.

I took this opportunity to prepare a schedule for my evening. I could practice my penmanship, but I really didn't want to get frustrated again. Perhaps I could take this time to visit Nico, maybe try to get some pointers. When I read his diaries I noticed how neat and old school his handwriting was. It was a nice, slanted cursive with even loops and letter sizes. I had such a problem with curves though. To be like Nico, though, that was the goal.

So after the rambunctious children scrambled out, I went into the cabin, retrieved my book and pen, and carefully walked over to the Hades cabin door. I remembered the secret knock and rapped it out on the dark door. This time, the door opened to a crack immediately, and I slipped inside. I walked in to see Nico haunched over his desk with a single candle lighting the room.

"I thought you might choose to come around the same time tonight," He remarked without turning to acknowledge me. I walked over and stood behind him next to his bed, careful not to look over his shoulder. He continued for a few minutes before setting his fountain pen down and closing his sunshine-yellow book. Nico looked over his shoulder at me.

"Are we having troubles already?" He said with a sympathetic smile.

I nodded in defeat.

"Here, I'll get a chair from the closet."

He went to his closet and brought out a simple black chair, much like the one he was previously sitting in. I took it from him and pulled it up next to his own.

"Now, let's look at what you've done so far."

I handed him my diary, covered in sky and filled with black scribbles of shapes trying their best to be letters. He opened it and examined the many pages of repeated squiggles.

"Well Katrina, I immediately see your problem," Nico said looking over at me.

I gave him a quizzical glare.

"You see, with these letters here, they are harsh and rigid, but not quite straight. And on the letters like B, where there is more freedom, you do worse. Like here," and he pointed to some of my B's which were not so great. "The alphabets you have seen primarily in your life have been typed, not written by individual people, but machine." I had a hard time seeing his point.

"Your letters don't have to look like this," he proceeded to draw out perfectly formed Times New Roman style letters.

Ohhh. I was getting the picture now.

"Just because an A looks like this, this, and this," he explained whilst writing out different looking A's, "doesn't mean they aren't A's anymore. It also doesn't mean that people won't be able to read them."

"You have several letters in here that people could read. This is about finding out what movements are natural for your hand and then making it legible."

Damn those words would have been nice to hear this morning.

He looked over at me, and I nodded.

"Here. Watch my hand move as I write." He wrote out the sentence: Writing isn't so hard after all.

Nico wrote the words several times. Then he slid the notebook over to me and I tried to imitate him. We spent the next hour or so working on different pen grips and fonts, and I felt like we were finally making progress. A little before the game ended, I left Hades cabin and quickly made it over to Hermes and got ready to sleep, acting like I had been there the entire time. I enjoyed this small act of secrecy. The fact that NO ONE went in Nico's cabin and that it was at a time when everyone was preoccupied made it fun. And I liked Nico. He was probably one of my best friends beside Will.

That day was a mirror image of my life every day for the weeks to come. Wake up in the morning and eat breakfast. Go back to the cabin and get frustrated with writing. Grab my sword and practice my combat skills in the heat of the day when barely anyone was around. Sometimes I would make it to lunch, other times I wouldn't. Practice until I get bored, which on some days was pretty quick, and then go to the Ares gym building and work on my strength. Clarisse had been looking forward to watching me fail, but she greatly underestimated my abilities. We developed a mutual respect for one another, although we rarely spoke. I really liked that about Ares kids. You didn't speak unless spoken to and privacy was respected. I went, worked until I was past exhausted, and then filled up at dinner time. Whenever there was a game, I went to visit Nico and he would offer me tips to improve my penmanship. It was a nice system. I even made it a point to listen in on the book club from outside of one of the Athena cabin windows. There was a bush there that provided good cover for me. Sometimes though, I decided just to sit on the back step.

The best part about all of this was that I was enjoying myself. I was working on my writing so I could communicate and get out of here. I had means of releasing stress through working out and sword practice. And I got to socialize when I wanted to and could be alone when I needed to. Most of them accepted me for who I was. Others, not so much.

But, overall, it wasn't that bad.


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey guys!**

 **A little more background on Katrina and some drama for today. Enjoy! AND don't forget to leave a review! I love reading the thoughts of all your guys who regularly stop by when I post :***

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything you recognize (Riordan)**

* * *

Aside from sneaking in to see Nico every once in awhile, I most enjoyed listening to the book club outside the Athena cabin every Tuesday.

I had never gotten caught, but I could only imagine what Annabeth would do to me if she found me. This week we were finishing up the last few chapters of The Illead, which I had read about three times already. Not my favorite of Homer's, but that's alright.

It's always during the times when I was listening to the group read that I wondered what had happened to me. Why was it me who was born without a voice? I was never told whether I was born mute or if it happened in the transfer. I just knew that there was a small hope that when I returned, I could be reborn with a voice. That was my dream. Hearing the fluctuation and emotion as I paint a story with such beautiful words. I wanted to do that.

You know, I barely knew what I was doing here. I knew I had a large job to do. The first thing I remembered was seeing Hephaestus looking at me. He was the first of the gods I ever saw, or at least remember seeing. I was probably around two. Obviously way too young to watch over myself. Without parents or an income, I lived in an alley off of Brandon Avenue in New York, and the gods were my babysitters. Every month they would rotate. Whoever wasn't the busiest would watch over me for the month unless something urgent came up. Hephaestus came the most, but I think he was one of the only ones who actually liked coming to see me. In regards to me, the gods were responsible for making sure I was fed, clothed, changed, guarded, and trained until I could do most things by myself. As I matured and grew, I was taught different things by different gods. Hephaestus was the most fatherly. He taught me how to fix things myself and build things out of scratch. He believed in relying on yourself before others, and that laughter was the best medicine.

Aphrodite didn't like me all that much. I must not have been a very cute baby, because she has despised me for as long as I can remember. She was in charge of making sure my clothes were clean and replaced when I outgrew them or they got worn. As I got older, however, she got a little lazy with replacing them. When you wear the same thing every day and fight off monsters a couple times a week, things wear out a little faster.

Hermes would watch me more when I was older. He was always too busy sending messages and delivering packages. Hermes was the one who sent me everything from my parents though. He brought me _Anaklusmos II_ once it was forged and helped me send iris messages to my parents. I enjoyed Hermes because he treated me like an adult. I wasn't a chore to him.

Ares was someone who just sort of sat down and looked at me when I was small. He was one of the gods who when I was old enough and didn't have to be looked after constantly would only came once during the month to make sure I was still alive. There were very few gods who were content with waiting until I was of age to be saved from the peril at home.

As I've already explained, Athena was a whole other story. She brought me books and tested me on facts. She made sure I was well read and would be the toughest and the smartest. I'm not sure it was out of love though. Even though she was my grandma, she wasn't the happiest about my whole existence. I feel that she thought if she had to put the time into me, I better turn out to be the best. Athena never taught me to write though. I've been perplexed by that for years. Why wouldn't she? I guess I can ask her when this whole ordeal is over.

Most demigods would beg for the chance to be raised by the highest beings in the universe. But it's not like I saw the Big Three. They had to quell the disorder back home. And being raised by gods wasn't too great. You were alone. A lot. You had no friends. You lived off of garbage. You were fighting constantly against monsters, police, and hunger just to survive. There was little love in the life that I grew up with.

I heard chairs screech across wood flooring as the group inside began to disperse. This was usually my cue to leave. I shut my copy of the Illead I had convinced the Stoll brothers to sneak out for me, and battled through the branches and leaves to emerge from the bushes.

The meeting had ended earlier than I expected. It was still pretty early in the afternoon. I didn't really want to go to Ares to work out, but there were people beginning to come to the practice area. I decided to brave the possibility of human contact and head to the arena for some more practice. Immediately, I went to the practice dummy I had taken a special liking to over the past few weeks. It was severely mauled, but I made sure to take the time to mend him when he needed it. I'd name him, too: Annabeth. And yes, he was a boy. I could care less about the mix of genders present in this sack of hay. The point was, I could adequately get out my anger while improving my skill and strength. So, in a way, thanks Annabeth.

I went around a corner to unleash _Anaklusmos II_ and then began to dismantle Annabeth once more. Usually, I can get through a whole hour of practice without being disturbed at this time of day, but I must have been extra noisy in my hatred today, because it wasn't long before I felt a tap on my shoulder.

And it was Percy.

"Dude, what are you doing practicing alone like that? You've practically destroyed this thing," He walked in front of me to pick some remnants of Annabeth that had fallen on the ground.

Really Percy? I was right in the middle of an angry rant, and was panting from the heat and exhaustion. I just sort of looked at him. Then I signed, _I like this one_.

"You know, you're pretty good," Percy started as he turned towards me, "But I am the top sword-fighter at camp. But... you are like _really_ good, or so I've heard."

You have got to be kidding me.

"Practicing against dummies doesn't improve your skill as much as fighting real people."

Percy what in Hades are you doing.

"Come on, what do you say?" He challenged with a sly and cocky grin. "Just one spar?"

I was angry.

So I guess this was a good time.

The sword in my hand, I decided to reply by seeing how ready he was at the moment. I put in a nice and silent thrust near his side, and he dodged it with a WOAH, but just barely.

The fight had begun. I took a shot at his head and he ducked, reaching into his pocket for Riptide. Luckily, I saw his move and knocked him over while he was off balance. He scrambled and brought _Anaklusmos_ out of his pocket just in time to meet my sword coming down onto his nose. I was on top of him and his back was on the ground.

"So we obviously aren't doing this in a civilized manner," he said through gritted teeth, attempting to push me off of his chest. He freed his left arm and came at my jaw with a side punch that I couldn't prepare for. In response to the pain, I let up a little, and he managed to throw me off. I quickly got to my feet in time to meet his blade taking a chance at my side. I parried and dodged his swings, but I let him push me back towards one of the climbing blockades. I turned and ran toward the structure, leaving Percy without a partner. I ran up, pushed off the top step of the structure, and flipped over Percy, landing on his other side and catching him off guard. He turned but was a little slow in stopping my blade. I pushed him back. We took a second and I wiped the blood off of my jaw, and he realized I had made a cut in his ear. I spat blood on the ground and came toward him running.

He and I battled for about 20 minutes straight, with both deaf and verbal screaming. We were not afraid to draw blood, and we each tried with all we had to end the fight right then and there. Unfortunately, we began to draw a crowd. Soon, about half the camp had gathered, but neither of us would back down. Backing down would mean humiliation in front of the whole camp. I didn't know about Percy, but I would not walk away from this fight a loser. About 15 minutes in, both of us were panting, bruised and bleeding, with sweat stinging our open wounds. I don't think Percy was expecting to be met with an equal. I knew he was good, but I had to be better. Over the years, I had developed such an anger for my parents, such hatred. They were the heroes of Olympus. They single-handedly saved the world, and I was supposed to follow in their damn footsteps and save it again. You know what. I would save the world. By myself, and I would be better than they ever were. I slashed at Percy with a vengeance; I would be a better fighter. I pushed him back further with unmet force; I would be a better swordsman. I threw in a hit on his arm; I would be stronger. My muscles burned and screamed in pain, something I could not do; I would be smarter, and quicker, and better than he ever was.

I swung at Percy's head and knocked his knees out from under him while he was distracted. Simultaneously, I took the hilt of my blade and rammed it into his own. The first Riptide went flying. Suddenly, I found myself straddling him with my Riptide to his throat, both of us breathing heavily. I would follow his damn footsteps, and I would fill them like they never thought I could.

"...Alright Katrina. Katrina?" Percy choked out with a cough.

Tears were streaming down my face. I was so angry. Furious.

"Katrina, I think we are done here," Percy said calmly.

I took blade away from his neck. I heard whispers from the crowd. I was so embarrassed. I went too far. I almost killed Percy. If I had done that, I would have disappeared, been erased from history.

I almost killed my own father.

I backed off of Percy and threw Riptide aside. Covering my face with my hands, I tried to stand, but my knees gave out, and I buckled to the ground. I laid in the dirt of the arena and looked over at Percy. He met me with wide eyes.

I signed, _Percy, I am so sorry. I am so so sorry._

His eyes got even bigger and he crawled over to me.

"No no no, hey it's okay. We both got carried away," Percy said, helping me up to sit on my knees. "Let's see if we can go get fixed up okay?"

By this time, the medical team had come over with Will in the lead. He came over to me and held me under my shoulder to support me.

"Hey, this looks familiar, huh?" He said with a smile, in reference to my first day at camp. I tried to smile, but I was so ashamed.

"Maybe try not to get yourself killed anymore, okay? For me?" he pleaded. I looked up at him and nodded. When I looked up at Will, however, I caught another glance from further off.

Annabeth Chase stood in the crowd with her arms crossed, staring me down. Her eyes screamed hate and anger, and I knew from that moment that she would never forgive me for what I did today. I had just declared an act of war on my mother; I knew who would win. And it wasn't going to be me.

In the infirmary, Percy and I were quickly stitched up and fed some ambrosia to hasten the healing process. He was joking and laughing, but every once in awhile he would look at me with a worried glance or sympathetic smile. I wanted to smile back, but I didn't know how. Will told me about all that had been going on lately, since I had been too busy to come and sit with him. His stories always used to make me happier, but I was so worried about what kind of gossip was going around the camp right now. I heard from Will that Chiron was going to quiet things down for us. Percy sat with me and attempted to comfort me. He wanted to talk with me about what happened while we were fighting. I was pretty resistant at first. Eventually, he broke me down and I spilled. But I spilled carefully.

I started signing:

 _I'm sorry for going too far, Percy. I have been dealing with a lot of personal anger and I am not used to controlling it around people yet. When I lived alone, it was no big deal to go and get my anger out with my sword as long as no one saw. Once I get into a fight, my mind is focused on coming out alive and that is it. There is no room for compassion or empathy, only the adrenaline of the battle. I have had to keep my survival as the top priority for my entire life. Wrapping my head around the fact that I am safe here and that I can't act on my frustration anymore is still hard. That is why I prefer to practice alone. And I am so sorry._

 _Also, please apologize to Annabeth for me._

He spoke, "I can understand, I had a period of time in my life like that too. Being open about things when you've been alone for so long must be difficult. Just know I will help you in any way that I can if you will let me."

I nodded.

"Um... and why am I apologizing to Annabeth again?"

I replied:

 _I just tried to harm the thing she cares about most in the world. I would think you would understand how love works, Percy._

"Annabeth should be okay because I am okay," he said looking off into nothing. "It was just a scuffle, and I know you wouldn't hurt me more than was necessary for me to drop my ego a little and walk away. I know you, and I know you resort to fighting as your first line of defense. That's what you were forced to do growing up, but I know you wouldn't hurt me Katrina. I know that, and Annabeth should know that too."

I never expected to hear that from Percy. He shouldn't put so much trust in my abilities to restrain myself. I had my blade on his neck. I don't know what would have happened if he didn't say something by that point.

But still I appreciated his confidence in me. Maybe I could take a little of that for myself and be a better person.

This didn't fix my Annabeth predicament, but really, what could?


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey everyone,**

 **This is the calm before the storm. Chapter 12 is a big one. So enjoy the peace while it lasts. I'm glad to see that you guys are reading this but please tell me what you think. I'm dying to know if I should keep going... I have almost 30 chapters of this that I would hate to keep to myself.**

 **So let me know!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything you recognize (Riordan)**

* * *

Both Percy and I were out of the infirmary by dinner time. We walked through the line, and I threw the majority of my mac and cheese into the fire as a spiteful sacrifice to Ares, thanking him for my edge in battle while cursing him and his love for violence which I had somehow acquired over the years. We went and sat down. Nico was already at the table; this was a strange occurrence, but I knew why he was there. I recalled his words to me the day I first went to see him. I could feel him hold on to my knuckles and tell me that violence didn't have to be the answer. I was filled with disgrace once more.

Luckily for me, the table talk stayed away from the day's fight and was focused on other things. Annabeth, however, did not cease in watching me the entire night. Even though I sat by Nico and Leo, her stare was relentless and harsh. Despite all she'd done to me, I still had the natural urge to impress her, and the fact that she resented me depressed me on a horrible level. The look of disapproval a mother gives her daughter is unlike anything else on the planet. I know this more than anyone.

As per usual, Nico finished his food quick. Today, another cheeseburger wrapper was left on my lap. I stealthily opened it under the table.

Tonight.

I knew he would want to see me, but there was no game tonight. I would have to be a little creative. I tried to recall a possible distraction, thinking I remembered plans for a bonfire. I had heard the group mention it once or twice. I waited a few seconds and the subject was brought up once more.

I caught Percy's attention and signed, _I don't feel too great, I will probably stay in the cabin tonight._

"Oh yeah totally, just call if you need something," he quickly went back to his conversation with Annabeth.

I left the table in a rush and got back to Hermes as fast as I could. I grabbed my notebook and pen once inside and stuffed them down my shirt. A little suspicious, I know, but I had done a good job at keeping this book a secret and wasn't about to let up. I got in bed and pretended to be asleep or resting until the crowds of Hermes misfits came and left to go to the bonfire. The coast was clear, and I snuck out the back door. There were a few stragglers, but I walked calmly and naturally until I reached the area near Hades cabin. I just kept wandering until I saw no one else walking in the darkness. I glided soundlessly up the coal black steps and pushed myself up against the cold grey door. I knocked the infamous pattern of rasps. The door took a little while to open, and I worried I would be spotted. But soon enough, the door parted slightly from the door frame, and I came in quietly. Nico stood at the edge of his bed facing me.

I didn't move, so he came to me.

This was an experience previously unknown to me. He walked up to me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders, tucking his head right over my right shoulder. I didn't know what was going on. It felt really strange to just stand there, so I awkwardly lifted my arms around his waist and made a similar move with my head.

And it was oddly comforting. I was not sure what this was, but I really loved it. Nico began to pull away and I tightened my grip. He tightened his in return. Unaware of what was happening, I noticed dark spots appearing on Nico's shirt. I was crying.

"It's okay," he whispered in my ear.

Finally, I allowed him to step away from me. Nico walked over to his dresser and brought me a tissue to wipe my tears away. I hastily blotted my cheeks, and we sat down on his bed.

"Did you start the fight?"

I shook my head.

"Did Percy ask you to?"

I nodded.

"Did you guys have an argument?"

I shook my head.

"Were you angry at him?"

I stared at him. This wasn't really a yes or no question. In this world, I was not angry with him. In _my_ world, I was furious. But I didn't know how much Nico knew about me and how much I should divulge.

"That answer might be complicated, huh?"

I nodded.

"That's okay. I can relate. At least, I think I can," Nico said. He reclined back onto his pillows, swinging his feet off the floor and plopping them on his bed. His hands were placed in a stretch behind his head. "I've had a lot of anger towards Percy."

Not like this, I thought to myself.

"You've been working on your writing still, right?"

It had been about two and a half months since we started working on my penmanship.

My writing had gotten so much better. I awkwardly pulled my notebook and pen out of my shirt and opened up to the latest page.

Guess what?

I'm left handed guys.

Nico totally found out, like, three weeks in. He was watching me struggle and then said stop. I stopped. He moved the pen from my right to my left hand. I adjusted my grip and continued.

Bing. Fireworks happened in my brain. All of the little thinking trains that go from my brain to my fingers got on the tracks and choo-chooed all the way down to my hand, where I began to write in beautiful curves.

Now it's been another two months, and I'm working on a new calligraphy and it's hard but completely worth it.

Nico took the book and flipped through my recent pages. He asked me about a couple of words here and there, but I was starting to write sentences and not just letters. Nico pointed out that my upper case letters were improving, but I was getting sloppy with my lowercase a, e, and o's.

"You are getting a lot better Katrina. In a few more weeks, I think you will be ready to start communicating via paper and pencil."

Great. That means I was getting closer to getting out of here too. Nico handed my book back to me and sat up to face me.

"Katrina, are you going to be okay? About this thing with Percy?"

I nodded firmly. I wasn't about to let this get to me. I was here on a mission, and nothing was going to deter me from my ultimate goal. We both got up, and he led me to the door.

"It's a little early, and the bonfire is still going on. I was thinking you might want to go still," Nico mentioned. I thought about it and nodded.

"Here, this will help with the secrecy," Nico said with a grin. He grabbed my hand and the world around me disappeared into black. It was overwhelmingly cold, and I couldn't feel my body. It seemed like I was suspended in a sense of nothing for about thirty seconds, though I doubt it was more than two, because in a moment's time I found Nico and myself under the cover of tree branches. A little way off in the distance there was a fire burning in a clearing. I let go of Nico's hand and immediately put a hand to my chest where I felt a burning cold linger.

"It will pass shortly," he said. "That's shadow travel."

I looked up at him as the pain resided. I had the biggest smile on my face and couldn't hide it. That was exhilarating.

"Haha. You enjoyed it I presume?"

I nodded excitedly.

"Well, that's a first. Come on, you wouldn't want to keep your Will waiting, would you?"

We walked into the clearing and I spotted Will sitting alone on a log near the flame. I turned to wave a goodbye to Nico, but he had already disappeared. He was really sweet, but I forgot that he still didn't like being with people all that much.

I walked over to Will and sat down next to him. His body swiveled as he felt me sit.

"Oh hey! You made it—"

His welcome was cut off as I enveloped him in my arms just as Nico had done to me. He immediately moved his arms to wrapped them around me in return. When we moved apart. I signed, _Thank you so much_. That was one sign he understood completely. A smile made its way onto his face.

"You know, we are a good team, you and I. And team members help each other. Just think of it as part of the job description."

I smiled back in response.

I was so glad he was on my team.

At that particular moment, things began to look up. I was making progress on my handwriting. That meant I could go and make that meeting with Chiron in a week or less. I would deliver the message, save the world, and go back home. I was so ready to go home.

Little did I know, I wouldn't meet with Chiron for several months, and I would go through Hades and back before then.


	12. Chapter 12

**Good thing you all like cliffhangers.**

 **Good Luck.**

 **-c.c.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything you recognize (Riordan)**

* * *

Three days after the bonfire, I skipped my normal writing session to look for Percy. I was distraught and extremely upset. I needed to vent to someone besides my journal, and I needed advice. I saw him coming from Athena's cabin, and I asked if we could go on a walk. He was happy for the time away from responsibility, so of course he said yes.

I explained my emotional dilemma. I didn't understand how much Annabeth would get to me. But every time I saw her, I would be met with angry eyes. She muttered names to me under her breath whenever she passed by. Annabeth had confronted me twice when I was caught listening in on the book club. She told me I didn't belong there and that I needed to leave and never come back. I mentioned these things in euphemisms to Percy. I couldn't flat out say his girlfriend was being awful to me.

I mean, I could deal with rude people. That wasn't the problem. Annabeth was the problem. I needed to prove to her that I was worth something, that I could do something she could be proud of. But she hated me! She expected something from me, and every time I have failed her. Every time she looked at me, I felt a stabbing pain in my heart. Every word she spoke to me brought uncontrollable tears to my eyes. I was her own daughter dammit! I just want her to be okay that I exist.

Percy looked at me, but there was little he said that helped. He wanted to talk to her about it, but I stopped him right there. That was _definitely_ not going to help anybody anywhere.

I eventually gave up. It was Tuesday, and we were finishing the Illead today. I didn't want to miss it. Percy and I hurried when we heard the lunch bell, and I ate my sandwich quickly. I had to make a stop at Hermes cabin to grab my copy of the book before going to wait behind the Athena cabin. The last of the members walked through the door, and it was shut with a small click. Creepily, I snuck around to the front door and sat on the corner of the steps. Opening my book, I followed along as Annabeth began to read the ending. It was a little difficult to hear, but I could make out enough to track their progress. Sometimes, they would stop to discuss the passage or read silently for a while and I wouldn't realize it. Still, I loved it. I could listen to them read this book forever and ever.

Forty-five minutes in, we were nearing the final pages of the book. I had already read the ending five times in the time it took them to get to this point. I was reading the last page for the sixth time when the door to Athena's cabin swung open, and Annabeth came walking out. Startled, I slammed my copy of the Illead shut and stood up and away from the steps. I clutched the book against my chest.

"Katrina," Annabeth spoke my name in a disgusted fashion. I just looked at her, straight-faced.

"What in Hades have I told you, time and time again," her voice rose to a mezzoforte and came at me with an edge. "You cannot be a part of this Katrina. You just can't!"

She moved toward me and I backed away around the edge of the house.

"What are you trying to accomplish by being here? You can't be like us Katrina. You can't talk. How can you learn and teach without talking or sign or writing? You can't do any of it!" Annabeth reached out and ripped my Illead out of my hands violently, and I backed off some more.

"How do we even know you can understand these words. Hell, Katrina, you haven't been claimed and it's been five months. You don't have talent, you can't build, you can't garden, you can't paint or prophesy, you can't control the air, and you don't know a thing about love! Are you even a demigod? Or are you just a freak mortal with a lucky connection to Chiron?"

She doesn't know anything, I told myself. Tears collected in my eyes, and my heart ached in a frightened panic. She's not right. She's wrong! Annabeth came toward me more, and we were almost completely behind the Athena cabin.

She threw my Illead on the ground angrily.

"You aren't a daughter of Athena, Katrina, and there is no way that you ever could be. You can't control yourself either," Annabeth walked up to my face, voice growing to forte. "You almost killed Percy!" Her eyes screamed anger and hate, and I could feel the hurt she felt in the tension of her fists that were clenched at her side.

"He's not the one who deserves to take a trip to Hades, Katrina. It's you!" She yelled at me with vengeance and fire. Then, she backed away from me and turned to head back to the front door. I was trying so hard to be apathetic - don't give your enemy what they want - but really, I had already fallen to pieces inside.

"So do us all a favor and just get rid of yourself already."

With that, she turned around, her blonde ponytail whipping around her head, and walked quickly back inside Athena.

I couldn't breathe. I couldn't think. I wanted to scream and cry and run. I needed to run. So I picked my precious book off of the dirty ground and ran all the way across the camp to Hermes cabin. I ran fast enough to make sure no one could see the trails of tears that fell down my face. I went through the back door of Hermes to avoid as much contact as possible. The door rattled shut, but luckily there was no one inside. My knees hit the hard wooden floor as I rushed to pull out my box of belongs before I broke down into uncontrollable sobbing. Right on top lay my notebook and pen. I grabbed them and quickly shoved the box back under my bunk. Just as quickly as I came, I bounded out the door, leaving my copy of the Illead covered in dirt on the floor.

And I just ran.

I needed to be alone, and I needed to be there soon.

So I dashed across the camp and past the Hades cabin, into the woods beyond. Nothing stopped me or slowed me down. No bushes, branches, rocks, or creeks stood in my way. And I did not stop. I didn't stop until I hit a small clearing, where the covering of boughs was thick and very little light entered through the canopy above. I dropped to my knees and threw my book down, then covered my face with my hands. There was only silent sobbing. My body convulsed in shivers of pain, and I gagged on my own spit with an unmistakable urge to vomit. I wretched and pounded the forested floor with my fists. And all I could recall was the dream I had of my mother, looking down on me in anger and disappointment. All of this distress I felt in unfathomable amounts came without a sound. Without the whisper of heavy breathing, or the squeal that always accompanies a breakdown and a flood of tears.

Suddenly, I did not want to be alive anymore.

But I was too scared to take any action. With a slow stretch, my shaking hand reached out to retrieve my notebook and pen. I heard the words of Nico in my head, and so I wrote instead of acted. I wrote about my hurt and all my pain, the way I had seen Nico do with his black book. In a way, I bled in black ink, and my sensitive soul made itself visible on the white pages of paper. Confessing all of my emotion in scribbles of half legible scroll, I talked about my parents and about Annabeth and Percy. I mentioned Will and Nico, and I thanked them for their compassion. I didn't mean to, but it morphed into a goodbye. I didn't want them to see it at first.

However, I wrote something else that someone would see.

I wrote and wrote and wrote until it was dark. The moon streamed through the leaves still, and illuminated the area. When I was finished, I left the clearing, tear stains caked across my face. New ones formed, less often, but they had not stopped yet. I had ripped a page out of my notebook and I held it close to me as I walked back through the trees. Soon, the cabins became visible. It was close to lights out. Most people were in bed.

I stopped at the back door of Hades. I walked up the steps and carefully put down my words covered in morning sky and laid the pitch black-inked pen on top of it. I looked at it for a while, but knew I had to move on. I took off my shoes and left them behind a tree that I had marked with a K from Riptide Two. Finally, I stopped at the front door of Athena, and laid down a folded piece of paper with Annabeth's name on it. Quickly, I walked to the sand that fell before the lake. I knew this led to the ocean. All bodies of water do. And that comforted me.

The stars that told the stories of my ancestors lit up the sky and aided the moon in making the sand beneath my toes sparkle. I thought about what I told Annabeth. I knew she would be willing to help me in this last endeavor.

Athena, I tried my best in all I did. I pushed myself and I did not give up. Just like you told me to.

Hephaestus, I always relied on myself before others, and I never stopped trying to fix things. Just like you told me to.

Nico, I wrote even when I had thought I never would. And I took what I learned and knew and applied it. Just like you told me to.

Will, I love you. Just like I told myself to.

These waters were apart of my making. Now, they would give me back the life I was owed.

I took a deep breath and smelled the sweet breeze that blew wisps of blonde hair over my sticky, freckled cheeks. I waved a small goodbye to the stars. Then I walked, one step at a time, into the freezing black water. I welcomed the sting of cold and continued to wade. Past my knees, my hips, my chest. I held my breath and walked underneath the edge of a frothy wave.

I parted my lips and waited as the clean water filled my lungs, devouring all the oxygen in my body.

And then the world was light grey, and I didn't feel anymore


	13. Chapter 13

**Shh... I fixed it don't worry.**

 **Also, let's try to have it so I don't need to kill a character off in order to hear from you guys ;) I loved hearing what you had to say.**

 **-c.c.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything you recognize (Riordan)**

* * *

Damn you Poseidon.

With my eyes open, I could see the water swirl around me in soft blue-grey curls. There were beams of moonlight streaming down through the surface and illuminating the top layer of the lake. I almost stood, nothing under my feet, floating over a huge chasm, my hair swirling in wispy strands around my face. But something was wrong.

I could breathe.

I inhaled water but what filled my lungs was air. I exhaled a defeated sigh. The air left my lips in a flurry of small bubbles.

My drowning experience had gone tragically better than it was supposed to.

Suddenly, the water lit up. It glowed a bright and magnificent aqua blue, and I looked down at my arms. The light was coming from glowing patterns that appeared on my arms and legs. There were ancient greek architectural spirals and designs being etched into my skin as well as small passages that circled around my biceps. I tried to frantically move backwards as the marks were burned onto my skin, but the waters seemed to push me further over the edge of the crevice. The pain was over quickly, but the color and symbols remained. Now I was a walking hieroglyph. Great. Thanks grandpa.

There wasn't much in the water, and for that I was thankful. I was pretty much a neon sign that said "Hey I'm food". But now I needed a plan. So what do I do. I swim.

It did not take long to figure out how to use the currents to my advantage, and I made short time of my trip to the bottom of the lake. The shore was close, so I didn't have to travel far in order to find the sand, but it was definitely dark. Luckily, I had packed a flashlight. Immediately I went in search of something shiny in order to see my reflection. At this point, I would also like to thank the stupidity of humankind for screwing up our water by throwing trash literally everywhere. You are trash. Thank you.

I saw a broken piece of mirror hidden in the sand and unearthed it.

So much for being ugly before.

Look at me now.

The lines made their presence known by growing upwards on my neck and creeping onto my jawline and down from my forehead. My eyes were no longer gray. They burned a bright neon blue color.

Well if I wasn't a freak before, I'd definitely win the prize now.

"Now what?"

I turned around quickly in surprise. Who was there? The voice had a deep and earthy echo to it. I saw no one, and that was not good.

"Oh shit,"

I swiveled back through the water and covered my mouth.

That sounded like Annabeth.

Correction.

 _I_ sounded like Annabeth.

That was me. I asked now what? I said oh shit. I was speaking those words out of my mouth and they were audible. I could talk!

"Really?" I asked.

"No way," I said.

"Nico," I began listing people's names. Regarding them with my voice like I always dreamed I could.

"Percy, Piper, Jason, Leo, Will…"

"Will," I said with sadness in my voice. I had almost killed myself, just like he told me not to.

Now what was I going to do.

I had nowhere to go. I could stay in the ocean, but I would be fighting creatures off left and right, not to mention I didn't have any shelter.

Oh wait, that's exactly how my life was before anyway.

I figured there was no other choice but to keep going. Just keep swimming.

So that's what I did. I said a little prayer to Poseidon in my head. I asked for direction and protection. He must know where I was meant to go, so I asked him to guide me along the right path. As soon as I finished, a small wave came up from out of nowhere and lifted my body upward through the sweet and salty waters.

I traveled with the current until there was sunlight piercing the night of the sea. Really, it would have been darker for anyone else seeing how far from the surface I was. But, you know, fish powers. As I swam, I began to see the life that is the ocean. Reefs were littered with brightly colored coral, and the aquatic wildlife was just as beautiful. Surprisingly, nothing attacked me. But I was welcomed with tiny voices squealing hello from every direction. Some smaller fish followed me for a while, accompanying me on my journey. I even encountered some sharks, but they just swam past me. A way off in the distance, I could see a structure, almost palace like, with a small cave-like building off to the side. Suddenly, my current stopped. That was all the help I was getting from Poseidon in that department. I swam over to some large boulders further away from the reef so I could observe my surroundings. Right now, I needed to find a supply of food. I don't know if I could bring myself to eat these fish, but the plant life seemed plentiful. I reached down and grabbed a leaf off of some sea plant and chewed it in my mouth.

I wanted to vomit, but that was okay.

Peering over the boulder, I watched as creatures moved in and out of the palace. There were merpeople, something I read about (and believed in, despite the world), as well as other types of marine-human-hybrid creatures and fish. I saw sparks coming from the cave like structure. That was probably going to be my best bet for finding food. If this was the place I thought it was, I couldn't just go walking in saying, "Hey Poseidon, I'm your granddaughter and you've never met me but what's for dinner." Honestly, I wasn't really allowed to see Poseidon yet. That was part of my mission; don't interact with the gods separately. I wasn't very good at doing my job in the first place, but I needed to follow the rules nonetheless. So I sneakily worked my way down a sandy, underwater hillside, being careful to avoid anyone seeing me. Finally, I reached the entrance of the cave.

I heard loud sounds of metal on metal and the sound of sizzling fire. At this point, I wasn't surprised by much. Fire under water? Yeah, we do that. It sounded a lot like Leo and Hephaestus' cabin working on a big project. Maybe blacksmiths? Underwater blacksmiths, yes.

"Hullo," a voice said cheerily.

That definitely wasn't me this time.

I turned quickly to face a fairly large cyclops covered in ash. He was clearly three feet taller than me and was quite broad. I looked at him in fear.

"Oh! You are blue!" He exclaimed in slow speech with a smile on his face.

Cheery Cyclops. I was greatly confused.

"What are you, blue girl?" he asked me sheepishly.

I began to sign, but then realized I didn't need that anymore.

"I'm a girl," I said calmly.

"No you are not. I know that girls are not blue," He laughed.

"Well, I'm special," I said promptly.

"Haha okay. Who are you, blue girl?"

I shouldn't use my real name.

"I am... Trina?" I said carefully.

"Trina, are you my friend?" the cyclops asked.

I decided to be safe.

"Yes I am," I told him. "Who are you?" I inquired pointing to him.

"I am Tyson, and you are my friend haha," He chortled in a slow and low tone.

"Tyson, where am I?" I asked.

"You are with me, Trina," he said as he began to walk away. "You can come with me. I need more friends, and you are one of them!"

This was definitely strange, but I think I found what I was meant to do. So I followed Tyson the Cyclops into the cave building and looked up to the surface of the water.

Thank you, Poseidon.

Inside the outcropping was a massive pit of fire. Water fire, mind you, but fire nonetheless. The heat was excruciating, but the other cyclops that roamed the space didn't seem to mind. I trailed close behind my monster friend until we got past the lake of molten rock and flame and reached a smaller doorway. Through this door were ginormous bunk beds, the perfect size for a cyclops herd.

"This is my bed," said Tyson, leaping up onto a large, flat mattress. Mattress was the best word for it, but the bunks were made completely of rock.

"You are my friend, so you can stay with me," He said, patting a spot next to him on the rock. In normal circumstances, I would never get in bed with someone I had just met. However, I was currently homeless and wasn't going to let this opportunity slip past me. I swam up to the lip of the rock and sat down next to Tyson.

"Tyson!" yelled a deep and thundering voice, "You have work!"

He looked at me. "Got to go," Tyson jumped off of the bed and turned back towards me. "Don't go nowhere," he said with his hands up.

I put my hands up, imitating him, and nodded. Tyson then stumbled out of the room, leaving me alone on the large slab of rock.

Well, plenty of stuff just happened. Now I had a lot of time to think about it. I twisted my body so I was lying down on the rock mattress. My hair floated all around me and tickled my face. I braided it into a large heavy strand that, for the most part, stayed down in one piece.

It wasn't really that smart of me to think I could actually drown in the ocean. The Poseidon in this world didn't know me yet, but I didn't take into account that my father has water powers and could probably bet on having them too. I had never had them before today, though. It was pretty cool being able to breathe underwater, use the currents, and talk to fish. Heck, being able to talk in general was amazing! That was an accomplishment. Was low-key upset I sounded like Annabeth though. Though not 100% sure, I figured that back home they needed a voice for me when I was underwater and mom had volunteered. At this point, though, her voice was not the best choice. At first, I wanted to talk all of the time, but now, every time I speak it's with Annabeth's voice, and I am reminded of all of the things she'd said to me.

I wondered if she'd say anything when she wakes up.

It should have been mid-morning. Since I didn't always interact with anyone until the afternoon, they might not have noticed yet.

I wondered who would notice first. I knew Nico and Annabeth would know, but I am sure they won't say anything. Nico would know I hadn't died. He would have felt it, so he wouldn't say anything, to protect me. Annabeth won't know I survived, but she hates me, so she won't say anything either.

Honestly, I was really upset I had done this to them. It would have been okay if I had actually died and didn't have to live with this guilt. Luckily, I knew people move on even if it's hard.

I just had to avoid dwelling on it.

But how could I not? These people loved and cared about me. At least, maybe. Who knows? Now that I was (still) alive, I could go back…

No.

I didn't want to go back.

Back to not being able to do anything. Back to Annabeth treating me like a monster. Back to having to sign everything. I would have to save the world again. Now, the only stress on me was hiding from Poseidon.

And I could live with that. I flipped over so I was lying on my belly, propped up on my elbows. I could have a new start here. Make friends, meet people, and not have to worry about anything. This really was the chance I was waiting for my whole life.

Yeah, this could be it. At that moment, Tyson walked back in, followed by about twenty other cyclops much larger than he was. I hadn't realized it, but the work day was done.

"Hey, you did not go nowhere!" Tyson exclaimed, walking over to his bunk. I nodded with a smile and sat up. From behind Tyson, another larger cyclops approached.

"Tyson!" the cyclops addressed in a booming voice, "You know the rules. No pets allowed." The giant creature crossed its arms sternly.

"Trina is not pet!" Tyson replied appalled, "Trina is my friend!"

"No Tyson, no friends."

"She is my only friend!" Tyson yelled with sadness in his voice.

"Hm," the older cyclops contemplated. Finally, it spoke. "Can friend work?" The cyclops turned toward me.

I nodded. Sure, I could work. Anything to stay.

"Well, O.K., friend can stay," the older cyclops grunted before walking away. Tyson looked at me with a large smile. He proceeded to run over and pick me up in a large cyclops sized embrace. It was a little hard to breathe, but the thought was all that mattered.

"Yay Trina stays Trina stays!" Tyson exclaimed. I smiled in relief and hugged the friendly giant. But soon after, a yawn filled the giant's mouth.

"Now time for sleep." He climbed up onto his rock bed and laid down flat on his back. It was only a matter of seconds, before Tyson was fast asleep. I swam up to the bed once again and curled up at the foot of his slab like a cat. It definitely wasn't the bed from back at camp, but it was a lot more comfortable that I thought, and I soon fell asleep as well.

And I did not dream that night.


	14. Chapter 14

**Goodness! It's been a while, hasn't it?**

 **But I think I'm back. I have over 40 Chapters written up for you guys, I just need to edit them and get them uploaded. So prepare for a spam of new chapters (hopefully!)**

 **ENJOY!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize (Riordan)**

* * *

The next morning began my first day at work. I didn't know what to expect. I thought that they would try to start me off doing things that the other cyclops did, like standing in front of twenty million degree flames hitting hunks of metal with large hammers. But cyclops are smarter than you would think. Most of the time they had me working with some of the smaller cyclops in the kitchen around the back of the forge. I helped prepare the cyclops sized dishes for their two meals: Brunch and dinner. I went out and gathered the ingredients and plated food. The cyclops eat pretty well down there, even though everything is vegetarian. The cooks have quite a bit of time on their hands and they come up with some amazingly delicious cuisine. I also did some work in the forge. Since I was small, I was the one they called on to fix any of the machines that broke down. It was a fairly dangerous job since most of the breakdowns had to do with the making of the underwater flames. As soon as it was fixed, I had to get out of there fast because that heat stops for no one. The cyclops found out pretty quickly that I was not as fire tolerant as they were. Let's just say I have quite a few burn scars to add to my collection.

But I was doing great. I wasn't bad at what I was helping with and the cyclops actually appreciated my being there. Whenever I got things working again, the cyclops in the forge would clap for me and give me big, soot-filled hugs. The cyclops in the kitchen liked me too. I could do fine cutting and slicing that they couldn't do with their large hands. I learned how to understand their broken speech and they didn't mind that I didn't talk all of the time.

Tyson was definitely my favorite though. He knew how to talk the best and we had a lot of great conversations during break times and right before bed. I learned a ton about him.

I didn't know, but he was Percy's closest sibling. He went on some of Percy's quests with him. Gosh did Tyson idolize that boy. He spoke so sweetly of Percy and how much he missed him. He told me that for his next birthday, Percy was going to send him a cake. He was very excited for that day to come. Tyson was also a pretty young cyclops, he would live way past any human would, but right now he was only 112 and still growing. He was already way taller than me but about half of the size of the other older cyclops. I thought it was just amazing.

I told him a little about me too. I finally decided that it was okay for him to know that sometimes I talk with my hands. He thought that was really cool even though he didn't understand any of the things I said. I told him that I didn't have any brothers or sisters and that I didn't have parents. A little lie, I know, but I couldn't tell him everything. He never asked how I could breathe underwater or control the currents or anything like that. He was just glad that I was his friend. But he absolutely needed to know what my favorite color was. I told him that I liked yellow and the next day he found a bunch of yellow sea flowers for me. Tyson was pretty funny and sweet. He reminded me of Will. I tried not to think about him a lot, but he just always seemed to come up. Luckily, the days were busy and I didn't have a lot of free time on my hands. I liked it that way. And I liked what I was doing. I felt like I had a family, and it was absolutely fantastic.

If this was my new life then I've fallen in love with it. I cherished every moment and I'm glad I did, because it was less than a month before my life was thrown back into chaos...

Tyson and I were on break right before lunch when Tyson received an incoming iris message. He went over to the wall to take it and I sat on his bed a ways off.

The message opened and I almost puked.

Percy's face was on the wall. I quickly moved off the screen's visibility. How did I not see this coming!? My mind went into a panic and I prayed to the gods that Tyson wouldn't say anything.

"Percy!" Tyson exclaimed.

"Hey Buddy!" Percy laughed. "How are you doing?"

"I am still good yes haha. How are you, brother?"

"Haha I wish I could say the same." Though I couldn't see Percy's face anymore I could hear the distress in his voice.

"What? What wrong brother?"

"I… I don't know Tyson. We're at a loss," He took a long deep breath and then sighed. "You see we got this new girl at camp a couple months ago. She came in with a nasty fight against the minotaur at the beginning, but we got her on her feet again and we thought she was doing fine. But then she disappeared."

"Uh oh," Tyson said, "Where did she go?"

"That's just it, Bud, we don't know. You know this doesn't happen a ton, but when it does we send out a small team to look and if we can't find them after a week we bring the team back home." Percy paused again. "Tyson, Chiron has gone nuts over this girl. Once he found out she was gone he sent out three teams. But dude it's been almost a month and they haven't found her." I heard his voice crack a little. "Tyson, I want her back. I don't know what it is but I know Chiron feels it too. This girl is important. We _have_ to find her, bro. I just don't know what else to do."

Tyson's face grew distraught. "I am so sorry brother."

Percy sniffed a little.

"No, man, don't be, it's alright. We'll find her."

I exhaled deeply. I had been holding my breath throughout the entire conversation without realizing it. They _were_ looking for me. Damn. I mean, I was flattered, but very concerned. I wasn't sure I wanted to be found. Percy's voice came back to my attention.

"Tyson, I haven't even asked what's happening down there. How are things going?"

Oh no.

"OH PERCY!" Tyson exclaimed. "Percy I have a new friend!"

Well shit, Tyson.

"Oh really? Who's your new friend?"

"It's a blue girl, Percy. She is very nice."

No, Tyson, no, come on man.

"Really? Tyson are you sure she's a girl? Like a human girl?"

No, Percy.

"Yes she told me. She is bright blue too!"

"Well, what's her name? Gosh, Tyson, you always get the cute girls"

Tyson, don't do it.

"Her name is Trina."

"Trina… Tyson, are you sure?"

"Yes brother she told me."

Percy's voice turned stern.

"Trina… Katrina… Tyson. You have to be really honest with me okay? This is important. Does Trina wave her hands a lot?"

Percy, no Percy please. My head started to scream no no no. I was happy here, Percy, let me be happy here! My saltwater tears mixed in perfectly with the salt of the sea.

"Um… sometimes she does yeah. Trina likes to use her hands but I don't know what she says sometimes. She just talks to me."

Percy's tone got more rushed, more intense.

"That doesn't make sense… but it has to be. Tyson what does she look like? Does she look a little like Annabeth?"

"Annabeth, yes!"

No I had to get out of there now! I couldn't move I was too scared. My anxiety took over me and I couldn't even breathe.

"Tyson, where is Trina."

"Haha Trina is right-"

I wasn't there anymore. Something in me switched on, like a horse being hit in a race, and I bolted. The current was there and ready and I cut through the water. It was dark in the ocean, because it was night time on land. I couldn't see where I was going, but my heart said land land land and that's where the current took me. Once the current stop I swam as hard as I could to get to the surface. My head popped up breaking the tension of the water. I gasped and felt the cold clean air fill my lungs. I located the shore in a hurry and dove back under the water to minimize my chances of being caught by the Harpies. No doubt Tyson told Percy that I had left. I bet he was getting a team together right now. I had to be fast.

I was to the point where I couldn't swim anymore, the water had gotten to be too shallow. Suddenly a flashlight beam skimmed the top of the water. I ducked quickly to get my head underneath the waves. They were here. And I bet you anything Percy was with whoever was out there. I made the decision to traveling further east before heading up out of the water. I would be closer to the forest and farther away from the search party. Then I made my move. I sprung out of the water and ran towards the cover of trees. Luckily, the bright blue designs faded from my body as soon as I left the water. From behind me I heard someone yell 'did you hear something?', but other than that, I couldn't hear the sound of footsteps or anyone trying to follow me. I continued to run until I was deep in the forest, near the same spot where I sat and decided I would take an attempt on my life.

Now I had to come up with another plan. It was beginning to get lighter, a sign of day approaching, which didn't give me a lot of time. I was out of ideas and completely exhausted, mentally and physically. What else could I do? I just walked and thought about the mess I had gotten myself into. I wasn't safe anywhere. From the sound of it, Percy and Chiron would stop at nothing to get me back to camp. That would be problematic.

I could definitely feel a panic attack coming soon. What the hell was I supposed to do?! Go back and be faced with the same problems I had to begin with? How could I even fulfill my duty while being made to feel like a piece of shit every day?!

I was really happy down in the ocean with Tyson. And now I couldn't go back. Ever.

Snap.

I lifted my head to the sound of a tree branch breaking underfoot. I look just in time to make out a small body hidden behind a tree. I started to say hello, but come to realize my voice is gone. I lost it when I came out of the water. Everything was exactly the same as before.

Tears began to flow from my eyes and I didn't care who hid themselves behind that tree. It could be Percy and I wouldn't give a damn. I dropped onto my knees and held my head in my hands just hoping and praying that whoever it was would leave me alone. There was silence for a moment, but slowly there came small, light footsteps. Suddenly, there was a hand on my shoulder. I looked up to see a petite, green Dryad with amber hair. She looked caringly at me, but she also seemed scared.

"Are you alright?" She asked sweetly.

Not bothering to wipe the tears from my eyes I shook my head no.

"You are a camper, yes?" She inquired.

I didn't want to, but I nodded yes.

"Well, you must have ran out here for a reason," she moved so that she sat in front of me and looked into my watery eyes. "I'm not going to pry, but you do seem weak. Maybe you should come to my place and rest for a while. Would that be okay?"

I looked at this nymph who was my one true miracle. I debated for a moment and then slowly nodded my head. She smiled sweetly.

"It's not far, can you walk?" the Dryad proceeded to stand and then reach her hand out for me to grab. I was able to stand and walk just fine. We didn't talk as we walked, but she looked over at me every now and then to offer an encouraging smile. I began to wipe my face dry and thank the gods extensively. Maybe this Dryad was a sign that reminded me that I would never be alone; the gods would look after me.

We soon reached a juniper tree that was fairly tall. It was framed by large boulders and other vegetation. The Dryad spoke softly as we approached the base of it.

"It's a little cramped in here, because it's just me and Grover, but it shouldn't be too bad, just watch your head."

With that she slipped through a small opening between roots and pushed her way inside. Luckily, my small frame was just small enough that I got inside no problem. She was definitely right about it being tiny. She was about a foot shorter than I was, so I had to duck a little to fit under the dirt ceiling. But she had made a cute little home out of this tree. There was a small kitchen against the left wall and a couch facing the door. Everything was made of wood and moss, but it was very cute.

"Come this way," the Dryad instructed. I followed her into a space in the back that had a small bed and a large moss rug. "I would let you take the bed, but I'm afraid it might be too small for you," she let out a small giggle, "But the rug is fairly comfy. I hope you don't mind resting here."

I shook my head no as I sat on the floor. I mouthed to her, ' _Thank You.'_

"What was that? I couldn't hear—" the nymph stopped mid sentence. "Oh I understand, that was a thank you wasn't it?" I nodded.

"I'm so sorry," she came over and sat by me on the floor. "I had no idea." She put a consoling hand on my knee. I just put my hand over hers to show that it was alright. She smiled and then rose to leave.

"I'll let you rest now, you look exhausted," she turned to exit the small room, then stopped. "My name is Juniper by the way, just come on out if you need anything." I smiled at her as a thank you. Once she left the room I cried in thanks to her and the gods for their mercy. I also cried from being totally and utterly exhausted. It wasn't long before I fell asleep in the room of a stranger. But really, it's not like this was anything new.

I woke up to the sound of people bickering.

"Juniper, you do not understand what a big deal she is, the entire camp is looking for her."

"Grover, she needs rest and someone to look after her. She doesn't want to go back there. I could see it in her face when I mentioned it, she needs time away from there."

"Juni—"

"Look, I know that it is a good place for demigods to find their strengths and be accepted but it's obviously not a positive place for her."

"But they are going nuts looking for her."

"Do you know why they are looking for her?"

"She's important."

"In what way, Grover?"

"I… I don't know."

I could hear the sound of hooves walking away.

"Fine, Juniper, she can stay as long as she needs to. But if they come here looking for her, we can't hide her."

"Thank you, love."

The hooves walked out of the tree hole and Juniper gave a long sigh. At that I decided to get up and go to see her.

"Oh dear," she said regarding my presence, "did you hear all that?"

I decided to go ahead and shake my head no.

"Well good, Grover was being fickle and too loyal for his own good." Though she sounded upset she said this with a smile. There were a lot of things I wish I could ask her.

"Are you hungry?" Juniper asked. I nodded slightly although the pain in my stomach was unbearable. I was starved. She brought out a plate of mushrooms and other vegetables, which she then cut and tossed into a beautiful little salad. As we ate she asked if I would answer a few questions for her.

"Did you know that the camp was looking for you?"

I nodded yes.

"Do you like being at camp?"

I shook my head.

"Is it because of the people?"

I raised up one finger.

"One person?"

I nodded.

"I see. Do you know why they are looking for you?"

I nodded.

"You know why you are important?"

I sighed, then nodded.

"Is that another reason you don't like camp?"

I nodded again.

"I see. Well Grover said you could stay here with us until you think you can go back."

I mouthed, ' _Thank you.'_

"Oh and Grover will come back tonight with some paper and a pencil so that we can talk." She smiled as she stuffed another bite of salad into her mouth. "I don't go outside much and it gets lonely here with Grover out all day. I think having you here will be fun." I smiled at her in return.

"There are some projects coming up too that I would like help with if you would be willing," she mentioned this hesitantly, but I nodded to show that it was fine.

"Great!" She said, "If you don't mind, I have about 100 root cakes I need made by three o'clock this afternoon." Juniper got up from her place across from me and took both of our empty plates to be washed in the sink.

"In the cupboard above the cooling chest there is a large bowl, would you get it down for me?"

I walked over to a large rock that covered a hole in the dirt wall. I removed the rock and was shocked by the cold that came from it. Yep, definitely the cooling chest. I opened the cupboard and pulled out the bowl. I spent the afternoon going back and forth between cupboards getting ingredients and washing dirty dishes. Juniper sang quietly as she baked away. When she wasn't singing she was laughing and telling me silly stories of Grover and Percy when they were younger. Apparently, Grover and Percy were really close friends when he first came to camp; they also had some kind of dream link? I don't know, Juniper wasn't sure how to explain it. But it seemed pretty cool. Soon enough, all one hundred of the little root cupcakes were made and placed in boxes for one of the baby dryad's birthday parties. Juniper headed out the door, the boxes stacked up on a little wagon that she pulled behind her, and waved as she went on her way.

I was alone again.

Juniper was so hospitable, but I knew right away that I couldn't stay here. I would be too much of a burden, especially with Grover wanting to turn me over to Chiron. I was pretty much a fugitive, and I didn't want my weight to fall on their shoulders. Juniper would be home in a few hours, and Grover would come right after her. I told myself I would talk with them about my decision tonight. I couldn't bear to leave her without at least an explanation and a thank you.

That night, the couple came home. Grover brought home some paper and a small pencil for me to use. I wasted no time, and scribbled down: **I don't think I can stay here.**

"Love, please don't worry about them coming to find you here, Grover promised he would do his best to keep you safe," Juniper mentioned pleadingly.

I took the pencil: **I know and I appreciate that, but I think I need to take some time by myself and think about what I'm going to do with myself.**

"Do you think you'll go back to the camp eventually?" Grover asked hesitantly.

I just looked down at the paper for a moment.

"Katrina, they are so worried about you."

I bent over to write: **They will have to drag me back**. Grover sighed.

"Alright."

Then I wrote my last message to them:

 **Thank you so much, Juniper, for taking me in without question and thank you Grover for keeping my secret. Thank you to both of you for opening your home to me and letting me spend a night here. Your hospitality has made all of the difference in my direction and demeanor. I could never thank you enough.**

"Oh dear," Juniper sniffled, "No, you'll make me cry! At least take a pack of food and water with you please!" She rushed off into the kitchen to quickly assemble a small backpack for me.

"I don't know why they need you," Grover said as he clopped towards me, "but Katrina they are desperate for you. Please, remember that as you go."

I nodded to him firmly, and Juniper came back with the bag, going over it's contents with me as I walked to the slit in the tree that would lead to the outside.

"Be safe," Juniper called to me.

I turned around as I slipped out the door and waved one last time.


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey guys! We are going in for another update today. Thank you so much to everyone who is still reading and thank you even more to you all who are leaving reviews! The things you say mean a lot to me.**

 **I might be updating chapter 16 today as well so stay on the look-out!**

 **-c.c.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything you recognize (Riordan)**

* * *

I was in the trees and in the dark once more.

But now, I had a plan. I walked away from the juniper and away from the camp until I was deep in the middle of the forest. This was good in the distance from camp, but monsters infested this area. I would have to be careful. Percy told me once that none of the demigods passed the camp boundary for that same reason. But I've lived outside of the camp for my entire life up until this last year. I'm sure I would be fine. Looking around, I saw one tree. It was fairly sturdy, lots of branches so it would be easy to climb. More branches also meant more cover. This would work well. I scaled the tree quickly and found a wide branch that would make an acceptable bed. I know that I said I wouldn't give my new friendships up for anything, but I didn't mind being alone again. I had a chance to evaluate where I was, and what I was going to do next.

I opened up the bag from Juniper and pulled out an apple to eat before bed. She was very sweet. I wouldn't ever forget her. But I planned on staying out here for more than a few nights, which meant I would need more supplies. There was one person I could count on to help me out. I would have to be sneaky getting in and out of camp, but I could do it. I needed some real life adventure to keep me on my toes anyway. Tomorrow I would scope out the area around my new tree home and make a trip into camp to speak with Will. But for now, I thought as I propped my back up on the trunk of the tree, I best get some sleep.

In the morning I woke up when the sun was strong enough to penetrate the thick canopy above my head. It was probably around ten. This was not the opportune time to go speak with Will, so instead I explored the forest around me. There wasn't much, to be honest, but I found a spot not too far away where the river cut through the landscape. It was fresh water so I would be able to drink and wash in it. I also found some berry bushes that I was about 60% positive aren't poisonous. There were a few fox or badger holes and I spotted some rabbits around too. I know this sounds awful, and I loved vegetables, but I hadn't had any kind of meat in a month. I was ready to chow down.

For lunch I ate a root cake from Juniper (she made an extra one just for me) and then went around to collect wood and kindling for a fire. It wasn't cold outside, but I wasn't going to eat anything without cooking it first. By the time evening hit, I had collected about half of the wood that I needed for a fire that would actually stay lit. I would have to stick with the veg for another day. But I had to start figuring out what to say to Will and when I would speak to him as well as where. I knew what I needed for now, that wasn't the problem. The problem was having him see me and preventing him from acting on the inevitable urge to tell Percy or Chiron of my whereabouts.

You know, maybe seeing him in person wasn't the best way to start things back out.

I really wanted to see him… I did, even though I knew it was not a good idea.

I guess I could start out with a letter.

Grover made sure that I took the paper and pencil with me, just in case I needed to talk with someone. I took out a sheet and ripped it neatly in half. I sat at the base of my tree and placed the paper on a flat rock. The letter went as follows:

Will,

I am in a rough place. I'm not going to disclose to you where I'm at or where I've been during the past month. But now I need help. I need you to get me the following items.

· Lighter

· Fire starter

· A loaf of bread or two

· Toilet paper

· Rope (at least 25ft)

· Nails

· Hammer

· Tarp (8x8 ft square at least)

· Hand knife

I think that's it for now. I'm trying to keep things small and easy to put in a bag.

Will. I know what I did was hurtful to you… honestly I was hoping that I wouldn't be here anymore. I know that's not what you want to hear, but it's the truth. I regret leaving you without a goodbye. But I can't go back to camp. I can't face what is waiting for me there, not right now.

I've put you in a horrible position. I need you to keep me a secret. You can't tell Percy, Will, you can't. I'm sorry. Just know that I am safe. And I am alive.

Please leave the package for me on the back steps of Hades cabin. I will pick it up tomorrow night at midnight.

Will, thank you. Thank you. -Katrina

I folded up the note and wrote Will's name on the front. It was just getting dark. I had to wait a little longer before I could get this to Will. And I was very scared. I was nervous to get back in touch with Will. I didn't want him to hate me. That was my biggest fear. I have been living in perfect ignorant bliss whenever my mind turned to Will. He didn't know whether I was dead or alive. He wouldn't know why I left or whether he would see me again. Now he would have some knowledge. How would he take it? I wouldn't know. I wouldn't know until I sent it.

I just had to do it. I waited for the darkness and I made my move. I travelled to the edge of the forest and found the tree where I had left my hiking boots and socks. I had forgotten about them up to that point. I put them on quickly and took a survey of the camp. I was somewhere behind Hades and Athena cabins. From my position I could see the Apollo cabin straight ahead of me. But leaving the note there was too risky. I put my name on this note for pete's sake. I needed to get it somewhere only he would see. That meant I needed to get it to the infirmary.

Unfortunately, the infirmary was a bit farther away. It's also right across the yard from the Big House.

That was going to be a little bit difficult. There were so many windows, so many lights. Not to mention that Rachel was almost ALWAYS awake.

Really, I don't know how she does that.

I was going to have to just brave it. I could do it. I walked up behind the Big House and ducked beneath the windows, which were all lit up by hallway lights. It didn't take long to get to Rachel's open window. Of course she was painting away; I almost passed out from the fumes. I knew she was in her own little world, but still I made myself as quiet as I could possibly be. I was moving toward the front of the house. I had to be quick and move through the lamp lights that lit the courtyard. I moved quickly and lightly and made it successfully to the other side. Gosh, stressful. But I made it. I was at the infirmary. I went around to the back door where the light couldn't reach as well. It was locked, just my luck. No doubt the front would be locked too. Time to problem solve. I crawled around to the left side of the building.

Suddenly, there was a bright light. I froze. I slowly moved myself into the bushes up against the building. I heard footsteps coming towards me. Just breathe. Don't move. The footsteps halt, and the light moved over the bushes. No. Movement. The beam moved away and faded along with the footsteps. I still didn't want to move. My breathing was still fast and my heartbeat raced. Finally I got myself together, and began to creep my way out of the bushes. Thankfully, a couple bushes over was a window that was open.

Jackpot.

I hurried on over to it, and carefully moved it the rest of the way down. I pushed my body up and swung one knee over the sill without a sound. Ducking my head under the top pane, I slid through the opening and into the room. I softly planted both of my feet on the wooden floor and slipped in between rows of medicine cabinets and white sheeted cots until I found Will's workstation. The stool that I always sat on to talk to him was still sitting in his station even though he never had time to sit himself. Suddenly, I wanted him there. Seeing him in this room and taking care of people was my favorite thing to watch him do. He cared about every person who walked into this room. I missed him so desperately at that moment.

I waltz over to his counter where he kept his patient records and medications. There was a drawer where he kept his timecard and his nametag. I opened it and set the letter directly on top. He would see it when he came to work the next morning. Then I pushed the drawer shut and turned to leave, but something caught my eye. At his workstation was a calendar on the wall. Every day for almost the entire month was crossed of in a red ink. I flipped back to the month before. The marks went all of the way back to the middle of the month. There was something written on the first day, I had to squint to read it in the dark.

 **I will find her.**

That's when I noticed that the date was August 12th. That was the day that I left.

Oh, Will.

He was crossing off each day that I didn't come back. It almost broke my heart. How could I have let this happen?

I took a deep breath and soundlessly sighed.

Unfortunately, he would still have to cross a few more days off on that calendar. And with that thought I crawled back out the window, shut it, and ran back to the forest under the darkness of shadows.

It took a long time to find my tree again, but it would get easier with time. There was still no sign of monsters though which made me weary. I was always prepared to take out Riptide II when I needed it, but still nothing came. I slept lightly, in case of monsters, even though I was exhausted. Soon I fell into a heavier sleep all the way until morning.

I was anxious about Will all day. My first thought when I opened my eyes was what if he tries to find me.

When I was collecting wood all I thought what if he told Chiron or Percy.

I ate a lunch of berries while praying that he would get me the materials I needed.

I collected more wood, I still didn't have enough, and thought about what if he tried to meet me outside of Hades that night.

I waited for the darkness, fearing that he wouldn't show up at all.

Even though I was so very terrified of seeing him, I was more afraid of _not_ seeing him. Still, I waited for the moon to shine high above the trees and tell me it was midnight. Then I would at least get my answer, Will or no Will my question would be answered. It was crazy that I trusted Will enough to expect him to get me the help I needed whilst keeping my secret. I definitely have asked a lot from him. But I knew that he could pull through.

The dark came and the moon rested as a sliver at the top of a navy sky. So I began to walk through the forest, to retrieve my package. The entire way I played with the idea of what I would do if Will was there. When I thought about it, I was so excited I didn't know what to do. But did I know that when it came down to the moment, he wouldn't be very accepting. I have done horrible things to him. Things that are not easily forgiven.

I sighed.

If he came tonight, it would be to tell me in person that he would not help me.

So I stopped pretending things would be okay.


	16. Chapter 16

**Okay, I just couldn't help myself. I had to post chapter 16 right away.**

 **And, you know what? They're both pretty short, giving me a good excuse to post chapter 17 today too!**

 **Remember to leave a review! I read everything you guys post.**

 **Happy Reading!**

 **-c.c.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything you recognize (Riordan)**

* * *

I found the camp easier this time. Smoke filled the air and I could hear laughing from a distance. That meant there was a campfire tonight, which was dangerous. More people awake meant a larger chance of getting caught. I got as close to Hades cabin while staying in the cover of the forest. I wasn't close enough to see if Will had left the pack for me. There was a bush about fifteen feet in front of me that was fairly dense, so I decided to go for it. I got inside and parted the leaves. Ah ha. Thank the gods. There on the back step of Hades cabin was a backpack, barely visible in the night.

Once I saw it, I wasted no time. I took a quick survey of the area and then soundless ran over to the steps. Even though I was being as quick as I could, I still took notice that Will had not been there to see me. I had expected as much and should never have thought he would try. I should be thankful he was helping at all. Peering inside the bag I took inventory: a knife, rope, firestarter, lighter, everything seemed to be there and in place. I turned to get up and bolt out of there.

And there he was.

Blocking the way between myself and the forest.

I was too shocked to move, so I just stood there with his backpack slung over my right shoulder. I knew I needed to go, but my body was stuck; there was no way of getting around Will Holmes.

He walked up to me straight-faced, then looked over me once with a stern expression. He spoke in a cracked whisper.

"You're alive."

His voice broke and he looked down at his feet. When he lifted his eyes to meet mine again, his lip quivered slightly. He coughed and then sighed in deliberation. I couldn't look at his disappointed face anymore. I closed my eyes and bowed my head in shame. We stood there in silence.

Slowly, I felt soft fingertips brush my cheek and lift my chin up from my chest. Before I could open my eyes there were lips cautiously pressed up to mine and a hand carefully tucked behind my head.

You know, a lot of people talk about their first kiss being like fireworks and excitement.

But when I was kissed by Will Holmes, all I felt was peace.

The kiss lingered for a moment and then he pulled away with the threat of tears in his eyes. Still gently holding onto my head with one hand he reached for my hand with his other.

"You. Stay. Safe," he said in broken speech that was all too imbued with sadness and concern. He then let go of my hand to reach into his pocket and pull out a crumpled wad of paper. He shoved it into my palm.

"And write to me," he commanded in a whisper. With those final words, a tear fell down his cheek.

And I told him I would, in the best way I could, by leaning up to him and pressing my lips up to his own once more before walking passed him and switching into a run, leaving him standing behind Hades cabin at midnight watching me go.

Once I was deep enough into the forest, I slowed down to a walk so that I could begin reading the letter he wrote to me.

It started off:

Katrina,

You don't know how relieved I am to hear from you and know that you are okay. We've been looking all over for you since the day you left. Chiron has gone nuts over your absence and so has Percy. You are all they ever talk about. Annabeth is at a loss, you've put Percy in an angry sort of depression. It's rare that he sleeps through the night and if he is not out in a search party or planning where to look next he is practicing in the fighting ring. He says that it's so he can beat you when you come back, but we all know he is doing it to take action on the anger he has. He blames himself for your leaving.

I have to admit, I have been really worried too. I've been trying to help as much as I can with organizing the search parties. It's been difficult to stay busy. But I know that if I had even an ounce of free time, I would come down with what Percy's got.

Now that I know you are alive, and close, it's taking everything I have in me not to ask you all of the questions that I have been asking myself this past month. Now that I've gotten your letter as well, I have thought of so many more.

And I know you can't answer any of them.

I promise, though, that I will keep your secret and get you anything you need to survive out wherever you are. I will do anything to keep you safe, even if that means being separated from you. But we need to come up with a better system for corresponding; I can't have you breaking into the infirmary every couple of nights unfortunately (though I'm sure you'd have fun doing it). I've hidden a box underneath some brush in the trees directly behind the Apollo cabin. You can safely drop messages off there and I will go and check early in the morning each day just in case you need anything. That's where I'll put your materials as well. I don't know how convenient that spot is for you to get to, but that's one place I know that is safe.

And I did get you what you asked for you. There should also be a few apples in the bag as well.

Katrina, please be safe. I can't bear to lose contact with you again. Stay safe and stay alive, for me.

With love, (and a serious don't-you-dare-get-yourself-hurt-face)

Will

The area behind the Apollo cabin was still on the other side of camp, but it was a direct beeline from where I've been exiting the forest. It was very smart of him to arrange a consistent meeting place, though it sounded like I would mainly be contacting him via letter. The problem I had was that I only had about four sheets of paper left. I could tear the sheets into fourths at least and that would help a great deal. I guess I could always ask for more paper too. I tucked Will's crumpled note into my pocket as I broke into a run again. It was extremely late and I wanted to get back to the tree as soon as possible. In the morning, I would wake up and be able to put up a small shelter in case of rain. There was also enough firewood and kindling after today to sustain flame. A fire pit would be my second project the next day. I would also need to start setting traps. I was still missing my meat and I was not willing to wait patiently for some hamburgers to just waltz their way through the forest.

I got to the tree in no time and began to get situated for sleep. The moon had dropped low and I knew it wouldn't be long before the sun came up to wake me. So I tried to fall asleep quickly; however, I ended up spending a lot of time thinking about Will and Percy. The way Will talked about Percy troubled me. His emotional state sounded grave and I was terrified he would end up doing something rash in order to find me. I also worried that he was driving himself insane. I wanted to send him a sign of some kind, something to say I was okay. But there is no doubt in my mind that he would take whatever it was that I chose to do and milk it until he found out where I was hiding and bring me home.

Despite all of the people who were worrying about me, going back to camp was still the last thing I wanted to happen. So I fell asleep and tried not to think about Percy or Will and just focused on getting enough rest for tomorrow.

The sun came up and I got to work. The first thing I had to do was make my traps. If I had been a little smarter I would have asked for wire, but the rope would have to do. I had made a few traps in my alleyway days, so I had a pretty good understanding of what I was doing. It took awhile but I got about five pressure traps made by lunch. At noon I set them out in the areas where I had located the rabbit holes and fox dens from before. Hopefully, by the next morning, at least one of them will have caught my dinner.

I came back and made a quick little cover for my sleeping branch out of the tarp and rope. It wasn't pretty, but I pegged it down with the nails so it should withstand some pretty bad wind and rain if it ever came. The fire pit didn't take long either. I spent a considerable amount of time removing the greenery from my tiny area under my tree though. There were plenty of rocks and I even made a designated area for my wood and kindling. By the time I finished, it was dark and I was ready to get my fire started.

It all seemed to work out really well. I lit the fire and it grew, but it was controlled and produced just the right amount of warmth and light. While it burned, I took out a piece of paper and sat at the base of my tree-home.

I knew I wouldn't be able to get a message to Will tonight, but I thought I should have one ready for tomorrow just so he doesn't think I used him for materials. He mentioned having a lot of questions, but, like he thought, I wasn't planning on answering any of them. I really didn't know what to say.

I did need a few more things, and more food. My stomach rumbled in response to the thought. I hadn't eaten much all day because I was trying to conserve as much food as I could. So I wrote down another list of items:

Wire (25ft)

Paper

Pencil

Paper towel roll

Change of clothing

Carr-

I stopped writing in response to a voice that came from a distance. It sounded muffled and morphed. I sat the paper down and got up to draw Riptide II. The voice sounded like it was in pain and close. Really, I wanted to ignore it, but there was something about it that caused me to move and search out the source of the sound. So I slowly walked away from my burning fire and through the trees.

It was strange, now that I think about it, that I would hear a voice so far out into the forest, passed camp boundary where no one was supposed to go. Nevertheless I followed it. I wasn't a completely selfish person; I don't like leaving people helpless. But the further I went from my tree the more nervous I became.

Suddenly, I could hear a low growl and in a matter of seconds a dog-like creature jumped out from the darkness and pinned me on the floor. My head smacked on to the hard ground with a thud and I immediately threw my hands up to my face to protect myself from the foaming, gnashing mouth that snapped inches from my nose. It growled and barked, trying to sink it's jaw into my neck. I managed to curl one of my legs under its immense body and shoved it's human-sized mass off of my own. That did not deter it much. I barely had enough time to get on my feet before it was on me once more. It clawed at and scratched my legs, but it was too quick and I couldn't hit it with my blade. Then it jumped and I moved out of the way so that I wasn't knocked down, but I came away with a nasty gash on my arm from the creature's claws. The creature turned and began to circle me, eyeing me, finding my weak points. I was breathing heavily and had instinctively grabbed a hold of my right arm which had been struck. The dog-creature jumped one final time, and I stuck Riptide II out directly in front of me. The blade entered through the beast's mouth and continued through his body until he fell into a pile of gold dust littering the floor.

I exhaled slowly.

Well, that wasn't fun.

I realized that the creature was a crocotta. They were greek, dog-like mega beasts that imitated human vocal sounds to lure their prey. I definitely was caught off guard by that one, but what does a girl do in this kind of situation? Moves on, so that's what I did. I found my camp again, which wasn't hard because of my magnificent fire, and I finished my list. I wrote a short message to Will thanking him ten times over for everything, and promising that I would be careful and take care of myself. As the fire began to die, I went to the stream and washed out my wounds. They weren't that deep and would be alright in the end. I came back to embers which I quickly covered in dirt to put out. You know the rest of the story, and I slept that night only to wake up and repeat the process of merely surviving once more.


	17. Chapter 17

**Okay, I'm not going to promise that this is the last update for today. But, I will say that this chapter picks the story back up again.**

 **More to come!**

 **Happy Reading!**

 **-c.c.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything you recognize (Riordan)**

* * *

Surviving isn't hard as everyone thinks it is. But I guess I've had a bit more experience than most. It was another month before anything changed. I didn't start writing to Will daily until the third week. Up until that point I wrote him only when I needed materials, which he always pulled through with. I don't know how he managed to sneak away all of those things for me but he did it. I came across monsters every couple of days. I wasn't surprised, but some of them left me worn out. There was no consistency in their strength, size or character. I'd hate to be them though, because I beat them all.

Anyways, I wasn't in a bad spot. I had everything I needed. Food was scarce when there were slow trap days, but most times I was alright. There wasn't much bad weather either. Overall I was doing okay. Then one day I got a letter with my materials from Will. It wasn't unusual, but it was longer than most. He started to ask me the cute get-to-know-you questions that he asked me on my first night at camp.

Are you 18 yet?

Are we good enough friends now that you can tell me your favorite color?

What kind of music do you like?

What is your favorite pizza topping?

Do you have any guilty pleasures?

Who's your best friend?

Have you met your human parent?

How long have you known you were a demigod?

So naturally, I had to answer him the next day.

Actually, yes. I think I turned 18 a few months ago. I don't know my real birthdate, but I think it's in the late spring.

I was never told when my birthday was. When Will mentioned it in the letter I had to really stop and think. I just knew that at the beginning of the year I was seventeen and that sometime before next year I would turn eighteen. There have been a few times where I have received extra material help from the gods that liked me around the late spring months with birthday notes on them. I have decided it had to have been around then, but I didn't know for sure.

Yes and I like light yellow and light blue like you would see in the morning sky.

I like a lot of different kinds. I am into pop punk more than anything else though.

Living on the streets all you ever hear is pop music. EVERYWHERE. I mean, I like most of it, but not the super popular stuff. I found a cd one day that I managed to make work in a broken cd player and it had a lot of pop punk and punk rock songs on it. I absolutely fell in love with it.

Cheese is always great. Sometimes I enjoy pineapple, canadian bacon, and tomatoes.

Guilty pleasures? I guess now that I own a hairbrush, one of my favorite things to do to relax is brush my hair. Sorry if that's weird. Other than that, I've always liked to read as a way to indulge myself.

No judge. I love brushing my hair. I have no idea why, but I love how it feels and I love the motion. It just makes me happy. I should ask Will for my hairbrush next time I get a good list together.

I do have one best friend, other than you obviously, but if I told you who it was you might be in danger. Sorry.

I considered Nico to be my other best friend besides Will. He has been with me and understood me more than anyone else. But if Will knew about that? Nico would probably try to murder him. He can't have people going around knowing that he is being social.

Parents are a sticky situation. I really don't know. I haven't actually met one of them so…

Okay. I know. Tiny semi-lie. I have met my parents. BUT they also weren't technically my parents yet. You feel me? I say it counts.

I have known my entire life.

And I left it at that.

At the end of the message I included the same challenge. If I was going to answer all of these questions for him, he had to answer them for me. Because, despite being close friends with him for so long, after that first night, we never talked about these kind of things. Mostly because it was too hard for me to tell him without the ability to write. Now I had that. So now was the time to learn everything I needed to know about Will Holmes.

I delivered the note and went back the next night to find another one. And he pulled through yet again, answering all of the questions for me and responding to my own answers.

Dang, so you've never had a birthday party? We will have to pick one of those days and just pretend it's your birthday so that we can throw a party for you. Well, at least now we know that you're older than me. I don't turn eighteen for another two weeks. My birthday is the first of October.

I like yellow too but my favorite color is actually dark purple. Don't say anything about it being a girl color. There are no such things as girl or boy colors. And purple is the best color.

Pop punk huh? I never would have expected that kind of music from someone as sweet as you. You definitely don't conform to that stereotype. I'm a much calmer guy when it comes to music. I love slow jazz and anything with acoustic guitar, except country. I can't even get near that stuff.

Pizza? I'm old school pepperoni all the way.

No brushing your hair for fun isn't weird at all. I can see how it would be relaxing. I'm sort of the same way, but I really enjoy back massages. I'm pretty much helpless as soon as someone starts rubbing my back.

I'm curious as to who your best friend is. Is it a guy? I don't ever see you talk to many girls. Maybe Piper once or twice. Why would I be in danger? Are they protective of you? Do they know where you are?

You haven't met even one? Usually most godly parents leave their children in the care of the earthly one. I haven't seen any that have been okay with the earthly parent just leaving the kid alone. I bet there are circumstances we don't know about with you. Anyways, I have met my mom. She raised me by herself for most of my life. I was her only child so we have a pretty special bond. She knows about camp and I write to her every couple of months to stay in touch with her. As far as I know, she's doing well on her own. I think she is living with a family as their in-resident nanny. She loves kids and she's happy there.

With your parental situation I'm not sure how you found out you were a demigod. Or was it just an instinct? Like you heard about them and just knew that was you? I found out when I was sixteen. My mom had been waiting to tell me until then. It was a big surprise and I didn't know how to take it. And she still wouldn't tell me who my father was. But she did let me finish up the next school year before telling me I needed to start going to camp. It was a big leap, but one that I was glad I took.

I was left, sitting in my tree late at night, smiling after reading his letter. I wanted to know more about him, Will intrigued me so much. I skimmed my eyes back over his letter taking in all of the information. Then I noticed that he never told me if he had another best friend. Instead, he just asked more questions about mine. It's true I didn't talk to very many girls at camp, but I couldn't tell him who it was. I would just have to ignore that part. I quickly got out my pen and new pad of paper that Will gave to me and began to write him back. I came up with some more questions about him and asked about what was going on at camp. I tried to keep away from any subjects that included Percy and Chiron, which was very difficult. In the end I was excited to get another note back to him and it took all of my strength to keep from running back to the box and putting the letter inside before dawn. That started our routine of writing daily notes to each other. We kept this up for another two weeks before we started being stupid.

In one of Will's letters to me, he asked me to meet him again that night when it was dark. I had asked for another list of materials and he wanted to hand them to me personally. I was going to be there anyway to drop his next note off, so I agreed. It was only the second time I had seen him since I left. So I met him that night around midnight and he gave me my materials and a hug before I ran back to the forest. It was so nice being able to see his smiling face when I've been away from people for so long. After that time, he came up with other reasons for us to meet. I tried not to go every night though. For the next three weeks we saw each other more than we wrote. It wasn't very smart, but it seemed so innocent. It was always short, less than a few minutes, and I always made sure to grab materials before I left. But I think we both knew that the visits weren't specifically for the supplies anymore.

There came a day, however, when I hadn't caught any food for three days and I was in desperate need for more. I hadn't gone to see or write to Will because I had been so focused on trying to forage and hunt for food. But when I realized all I had left was a handful of berries and a chunk of bread, I knew I needed some outside help.

I wrote Will a note, asking for a food package with some protein in it and grains. I didn't care what it was but I needed something to last me for at least one more day to give my traps a little more time. Admitting help in this way, where I really needed something that wasn't just for convenience, was something that I really hated to do. But at this point, I had very little choice. I ran to drop the note off at the box and came back, hoping to sleep at least until mid morning. If I was asleep I didn't feel the hunger as much. Unfortunately, I woke up with the sun like I did every morning. I spent the entire day checking my traps and searching for more berry bushes or roots and mushrooms that I could dig up. When I came back to the tree I had gathered a handful of mushrooms and a little hollowed out log filled with some kind of berry. It was almost night. The fire crackled in front of me as I gulped down all of the food I had left. I would need my strength tonight to take my, hopefully, full bag of produce back to the tree. The fire grew brighter as the blue sky faded to black. Dark clouds enveloped the sky and blocked out most of the moonlight. It was still enough to see by. So I began my journey to the edge of forest once more.

I came out behind Hades as I normally did, but something struck me as a odd. There seemed to be faint light coming through a window a few cabins down. I couldn't wait any longer for this pickup though, I had to get it tonight. So I pushed the light out of my mind and proceeded to dash across the open courtyard to Apollo's cabin. Quickly and silently, I disguised myself within the trees, and stood over the bush with our box inside. I reached under the thorny branches and pulled it out into the open. But there was nothing inside when I opened it.

"Psst, Katrina,"

I turned back to Apollo's cabin and Will was standing beneath the window, pressed up against the wall. The box found its place back under the bush and I jogged over to Will. He was holding a large brown paper grocery bag filled with food. My mouth watered at the sight. I signed thank you over and over again.

"I hope that is enough for you," Will whispered softly. "There wasn't a lot more I could have fit in the bag."

I nodded excitedly. It was perfect. I slowly reached out my arms to take the bag from him. The bag was not cooperating, however. It crackled and ripped a little in the transfer and I was worried it wouldn't hold. I didn't know if I would be able to run with it.

"Hey! What are you two doing?!" a voice yelled from a short distance away.

My eyes grew wide and my mind flew into panic mode. I didn't have time to think, I just reacted. I dropped the paper sack on to the ground, its contents spilling as the bag split open and I ran as fast as I could for the forest.

"You! Stop!" I heard the voice yell. I glanced to my right and saw a tall and muscular figure in the light of the camp lamps. Oh no.

It was Percy.

I heard him gasp.

"It's her! Get Chiron and Will! I need backup!" Percy yelled to the harpies. Will stood behind Apollo cabin frightened. But then both of them started running toward me. I whipped my head forward and narrowed my gaze in concentration as I approached the forest which I had called my home for the past month. I knew it well, and I knew it in the dark. I could outrun them. I could outrun them all.

"Katrina!" Percy screamed my name as he chased me through the pitch black trees. I led them over logs and rocks and beelined for the edge of the camp zone. But my breathing was heavy and I was still weak from being without food for days. I could hear Percy and the sound of hundreds of footsteps as the camp rose from their bed and join Percy in the hunt. Percy was still faster than the rest, with Will not far behind. He was coming up too close for my liking so I jumped, mid run and caught a hold of a low branch. I swung myself up on it easily and continued to run, stepping from branch to branch hoping to throw them off. But Percy had seen my move and soon he was in the trees with me, though I was much more skilled in maneuvering through the boughs than he was. When I felt as though I had made a considerable gap between us I dropped down and sprinted along the leaf covered floor.

I would not let them take me.

They can't take me back now.

I pushed myself harder and made myself run faster and faster. But I was losing strength too quickly. They were gaining on me. All I could hear was my name and the sound of my heart in my ears and the heaving of my lungs. But I would never give in. Never give up.

Instinct took over and I remembered a stream about two hundred feet in front of me off to the right a little ways. I ran towards it with exceptional speed, hoping to get myself enough time before the party showed up. It wasn't very deep and I ran through it to reach the other bank. I turned in the direction I came and I could see the silhouettes of Percy and Will in the dark followed by a cloud of screaming children.

I had no more time.

I bent down and put my hands in the running water. The blue designs returned, brighter than before, and traveled up my arms, encased my body, and filled my eyes with aquamarine light. Percy was almost directly in front of me by the time I looked down at my hands and ripped them up and out of the water with an audible scream. Gasps escaped from all sides of the forest.

Rightly so.

Breathing hard, I moved my aqua-marine eyes to the sky, where a large wall of water, colored like my eyes, followed the length of the stream and reached higher than the trees themselves.

I peered through the clear, neon blue water at Percy who stood on the other side of the wall with his mouth hung open. Then in one quick movement, he rose another wave of water and pushed it up against my wall. I took out Riptide II to block the impact, but my wall withstood his water blast.

By this time, the rest of the group of campers caught up and were there to witness my water games.

But I didn't care. I was furious.

I didn't care what I had to do.

I would do anything.

But I was not going back there.

With soft eyes, Percy began to wade through the stream and up to my wall of water. He put a hand on the glowing surface and looked at me.

"Why did you leave, Katrina?" He asked quietly. His voice seemed to be the only sound in the entire forest. So I challenged it with my own.

"It was supposed to be suicide."

Whispers erupted all across the crowd and I looked at Will. He looked back at me with a terrified expression.

The entire assembly turned their heads to Annabeth, who they thought had spoken. She was a part of the front line. With everyone staring at her, she only looked at me, with a scowl on her face.

"Oh gods…" Percy said to himself. He glanced between my face and Annabeth as he put together that I said those words, even though it sounded like Annabeth.

But he was not phased in the least. He looked back and me with tears in his eyes.

"Why, Katrina, why would you do that!" He screamed to me from across the wall of ever-moving water.

I replied simply and apathetically.

"I was told to."

"What, by who?" He replied, clearly shocked.

There were tears in my eyes but my face and voice remained unflinching.

"By someone I respect—"

"By who, Katrina?!" Percy yelled and smacked his fist against the wall causing ripples in the water.

To answer his question, I lifted my right arm, which gripped onto _Anaklusmos II_ like no tomorrow and pointed the tip of the blade to the front of the crowd.

Right at Annabeth Chase.

"Her," I said with a pain in my voice.

Percy turned and yelled Annabeth's name as he realized who was behind the chaos.

But I never heard what he had to say.

In the midst of the ruckus that came with my accusation, I flipped the handle of my sword back toward my body, and quietly pushed it through my gut.

Instead of with black, as I assumed Tartarus would be, I was met with a bright lavender light and the cold taste of death around me.


	18. Chapter 18

**Welcome to Day 3 of updates!**

 **Sorry about that tiny cliffhanger, but sometimes these things are necessary, you know?**

 **BTW! This next chapter is from PERCY's POV. We will get back to normal story mode next chapter, I promise.**

 **AND I wanted to thank the people who are posting reviews. It means so much!**

 **Thanks to:**

 **CDisthename**

 **waterfirewitch**

 **and The Son of Greece for their reviews.**

 **Happy Reading!**

 **-c.c**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything you recognize (Riordan)**

* * *

**PERCY**

I whipped my head around to face Annabeth, who stood there with an unmoved expression. My fingers curled into fists as I walked back to dry ground. I was shocked.

"Annabeth," I started angrily, "How could—"

"Katrina no!" Will screamed from the edge of the crowd. I turned just in time to see the wall of water drop and the blue color fade from Katrina's body as she fell onto knees. Her sword impaled her core.

"No!" I cried. Tears were already forming as I ran down to the creek once more to see her, but I was stopped by a bright purple wall that replaced the first with a loud thundering boom. I stood back amazed, and scared out of my mind. The wall was made out of light and was fairly translucent. I could see Katrina on the other side, bleeding down the bank and staining the river with red.

Another loud noise was heard and on the other side of the wall more purple light appeared. It floated in small orbs which started dancing in a large circle. They traveled upwards towards the treetops, producing an image. Once the orbs met at a peak they disappeared, leaving a perfectly purple and outrageously large (no joke like two story building high) image of one of my favorite of all goddesses.

And then, Athena, goddess of wisdom and strategy, spoke.

"Perseus Jackson," she regarded me with a skeptical glance. "Son of Poseidon."

"Annabeth Chase," to her, she gave a look of hostility, "Daughter of Athena."

"William Holmes," she turned to Will as well, "Son of Apollo."

Then Athena glared at me with grave eyes.

"It seems that the gods have a favor to ask of you."

You know, that's not usually a good thing.

Suddenly, a beam of that same violet light came down from the trees and shone on Katrina's dying body. With gasps from the campers, she was lifted up into the beam of light and raised to the height of Athena's image. By some magic, the sword that pierced through Katrina was slowly removed and was held there next to her in midair. Then the light orbs returned, and danced around her midsection. They then entered her mouth and seemed to fill her lungs. She breathed out a silent sigh. Oh my gods she was still alive. But she still hung there as Athena spoke.

"This is the girl whom you call Katrina. The gods call her the same. But only because we do not know her."

Wait, what?

"She is a demigod, or so we think, but there is something about her that we cannot recognize," Athena interrupted her thoughts with a defeated sigh. "Or something we are afraid to acknowledge."

Well that definitely wasn't good. Normally I would look at Annabeth to see what was going on in her head at this point. But I couldn't stand to look at her face after knowing what she had caused.

"Whoever she is, this girl is important. Her _two_ deaths have caused a great deal of turmoil to the already chaotic tragedies on Mount Olympus. You three, Perseus, Annabeth, and William, are the three here whom she trusts in the most, as far as we can tell."

She gestured to the three of us with her head.

"You have one job."

"Keep. Her. Alive."

"We have already saved her twice," the goddess turned toward Katrina and with a movement of her hand, gently lowered the girl and her sword down to lay on the earth. "And now we place her life in your hands."

She looked up to the entire assembly.

"Into _all_ of your hands."

Athena turned specifically to me once more.

"Remember, Perseus Jackson, her life rests in your hands, but in her hands, may rest the lives of the gods."

Athena moved on to Annabeth.

"Do not fail me."

And to Will she said:

"Do not let her die, _again_."

The goddess stood tall and looked out among the campers before disappearing into a cloud of purple dust. The wall vaporized as well. I would have continued my run towards Katrina, but I was too stunned to move.

I was the first to regain my senses though.

I turned to Will and pointed to Katrina.

"Will, go to her!"

He immediately leaped through the water and up the bank to reach her body. I turned to address the campers.

"Katrina is alive and we will bring her back to camp when she is able to move," all the campers came out of their dazes and began to stir and whisper. I had to raise my voice. "In order to get her back, we need you all to go back to the cabins. Please." To my surprise, they all turned and headed back to camp without a fight.

Well, all but one.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Annabeth?" I asked my girlfriend through gritted teeth. She looked to the ground, her face was hidden by her bangs.

"I—"

"You told her to go kill herself. She tried to _kill herself!_ Because of you!" I walked up until I was less than two feet away from her. I was breathing hard and honestly I was trying not to do anything rash.

"I… I know," she said in defeat. She looked up at me with tears staining her cheek. I knew that they weren't for Katrina though. They were for me. I sighed in dismay and turned to address Will.

"Will, is she okay to— Will!?" I looked over to see Will kneeling on the ground leaning over empty space. Katrina was gone.

"Will, what have you done!?" I ran over the river and onto the bank to kneel across from him. He sat on his knees crying.

"She kept mouthing 'I don't want to go back', 'I don't want to go back'."

He looked up at me and sniffled.

"Percy, I'm sorry. I just want her to be happy," he dropped his head into his hands and began to cry once more. I lifted my hand to his shoulder in consolation. I stood up and saw that Annabeth had followed me.

"I'm going after her," I said as I walked away from Will and back towards the river. I curled my fingers, raised them to my mouth, and whistled for my pegasus, Blackjack. I would need some skyborn advantages.

"I'm coming with you," Annabeth said. She trotted up and stood in front of me, blocking me from going any further. I just looked at her coldly. I didn't know if I was upset or just amazed by her saying that. I soon heard Blackjack's wings in the distance.

"No, you need to make sure that Will gets home safe."

Blackjack came to a soft landing behind me as his hooves hit the dirt ground. I quickly went over to him and mounted him, grabbing his black mane. Annabeth rushed over to me.

"Percy, please," she begged with me.

"No," I replied. "I think you've done enough for Katrina already."

I tugged on Blackjack and we lifted off into the dark night sky, leaving Annabeth in charge of helping Will get back to camp.

And Blackjack and I went searching for our strange, little Katrina.

Finding her was harder than I had imagined. Even though it got closer and closer to morning, the forest was still dark and so it was difficult to see anything amongst the dense foliage. Still, I didn't give up. I knew she was here and that she was alive, which is the most I've known for a few months. I could bring her back today, and I would. Suddenly, while flying over a zone past the camp boundaries, I managed to make out the clinking of a sword and the growl of a beast.

"There, Blackjack, do you hear her?" I said to the faithful pegasus. In response, the creature swooped down into the trees and flew quickly through the branches in order to locate Katrina and whatever she seemed to be fighting. Let's just say, when we found her she wasn't winning.

But, she _was_ fighting about every damn monster in the forest.

All at once.

BUT, we also weren't the first there to help her. Nico and Mrs. O'Leary were helping her too. Neither noticed I was there for a moment.

"Katrina," Nico shouted, "You're still too weak! Just come back to the camp border!" Katrina's face grew angry and she flung herself at a pack of crocotta, slaying all of them in a matter of seconds.

Damn, she was good.

"UGH!" Nico shouted at her once more as he summoned a small skeleton army to fight off a basilisk. "You are so stubborn!"

Mrs. O'Leary had her share of fun too with the harpies that flew around her head. She snatched one out of the air, shook it in her mouth, and proceeded to fling it off into the forest.

It was then that Nico noticed me.

"Percy! You've got to get her out of here! Her strength is failing I can feel it!" He turned back to face a telkhine, which, as they normally did, appeared later than everyone else. Nico was not shitting around, if he could feel her fading, then that was too close. But if I tried to take her back now, she would fight me every step of the way. The best thing I could do was help her win this fight. I told Blackjack to head back to the stable. Then I dug through my pocket and pulled out a pen. I uncapped it, and Riptide was a out and ready for action. I smiled. I hadn't been in a real fight for some time. I was looking forward to kicking some monster butt.

I jumped into the fray and found my fair share of crocotta, harpies, griffins, and basilisk. It was a tough battle, even with the four of us together. No one came out completely unscathed. But soon, the war was won as the morning sun found its way through the leaves. As predicted, Katrina came out with the worst of it. She collapsed from exhaustion towards the tail end of the battle. We had to throw her up on Mrs. O'Leary to keep her out of the mess while we cleaned the rest of the monsters out. I looked at Nico. Both of us were still breathing hard from finishing out the win, but from his look, she was still alive.

"Do you think you could…" I started to stutter.

"No," Nico replied looking up at the girl, "She's too weak to shadow travel, but I think she will make it back to camp alright." We both stopped as a the cry of a crocotta echoed in the distance. "We better start walking now, before anyone else tries to take a stab at her."

I nodded in agreement. It was a slow and torturous walk. Both Nico and I continually stole glances up at Mrs. O'Leary's back to check on Katrina. I didn't notice him among the campers last night, but there was no doubt he was there. We both knew that Katrina was a precious piece in the game of the gods. I could tell we both wanted to ask the question, but were too scared to. What was she meant to do?

What I was so hung up on was the fact that the gods didn't know her. But she was a demigod. One that showed signs of the heritage of Poseidon, yet he didn't know her. She had to be his daughter. How could he not know?

She was my sister.

But wait, she was also never actually claimed. Would they keep her in Hermes? They couldn't do that. I wonder if she was claimed in the time that she was gone. I guess that could have been the case. But the whole point of claiming is that it happens in the camp.

I put my hands up to my face in exasperation. I couldn't think anymore.

Thinking hurts my brain too much.

We walked the rest of the way back in silence. The quiet seemed to follow us even when we entered camp. We came through the trees right behind Hades cabin and walked out into the courtyard. Everyone froze. Conversation slowly ceased and all movement stopped. Every available eye followed Nico, Mrs. O'Leary, and I all of the way across the yard to the infirmary. When we were about three quarters of the way there, Will came running out from inside the building. Mrs. O'Leary laid down and Nico and I helped Will take Katrina off of the enormous dog and carry her inside. We rushed her through the doorway and set her down on an empty cot. Will went to fetch her water and Nico stooped over her head and pulled some ambrosia out of his pocket which he helped her chew and swallow. I dejectedly grabbed onto the back of a wooden chair and pulled it up to her bedside. Sitting down, I let my head fall into my hands. Nico and Will hurried about, getting this or that for her. I just sat there and looked at her.

Her life here was bad enough that she never wanted to come back.

And she carried a burden so heavy that she attempted suicide just to escape it.

I thought she was happy here. And after looking and Will and Nico's faces that were reminiscent of defeat and guilt, I knew that they had thought so too. Will and his medical team got Katrina hooked up to a heart rate monitor and IV. They talked about how she was malnourished and severely dehydrated. But the majority of the people who saw her were positive in her recovery. Still, I stayed with her until she awoke, and then even passed that. I didn't leave her side for a minute. I ate only enough to satisfy Annabeth, who I didn't care to speak to, and drank only when Nico threatened to pour the glass of water over my head. When Katrina was awake, which wasn't often, she would look at me with a face full of quiet desperation and sometimes confusion. I could only return her gaze and try to smile without beginning to tear up. I imagined that she hated me for bringing her back to camp. But I didn't know what else I could have done. I was just as lost in this as she was.

When she was cleared by Will to leave the infirmary I helped her move her small box of belongings from Hermes into Poseidon's cabin, where Leo had just finished making another bed on the other side of the room. Since she woke up, she hadn't signed a single word to me or anyone. She never tried to run or leave.

But she looked sad. All of the time.

I carefully placed her box of things on the floor in front of where she sat on her new bed. I positioned myself on the floor and began to unload the box. Suddenly, her hand slammed down on the lid of the box to prevent me from opening it further. I looked up at her and she just stared at me with tears streaming down her face. Her face screamed terror and her eyes were wide. She pushed the box under her bed slowly, not failing to keep her gaze steady on me, and she dropped from the bed onto her knees in front of me. Katrina hung her head and reached her arms out to me. Realizing what she needed I quickly scooted closer to her and wrapped my arms around her tightly, letting her head fall to rest on my shoulder.

"Hey," I whispered softly into her ear as she sobbed, "hey, it's okay."

I looked up at the ceiling and sent a prayer to the gods.

"I've got you."


	19. Chapter 19

**What is this? Day 4? Anyway, be prepped for some more chapters coming your way today.**

 **Actually, I might have skipped a day. Sorry about that.**

 **I'll make it up to you. With more chapters!**

 **This one is back to Katrina's POV and we will stay there for quite awhile...**

 **Happy Reading!**

 **-c.c**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything you recognize (Riordan)**

* * *

…

As soon as I was moved into Poseidon's cabin with Percy, I slept for what felt like forever. It was a desperately needed the sleep and the time to think about what I needed to do.

I realized that I couldn't run anymore. I tried to evade this destiny _twice_ by the most gruesome of means and I was stopped both times. Fine, I thought, I won't try to cheat out fate. But that meant I had to come up with a real game plan. My first course of action, I decided when I woke up the following morning, would be getting something to eat. I sniffed the air where I caught a whiff of breakfast being cooked.

Oh my gods. Bacon.

I sat up in bed immediately and threw off the covers. I hadn't eaten meat in like, forever. Thank goodness Percy was still fast asleep, because I couldn't help myself. I stripped down and ran into the shower (which I was glad to be back to) and got myself cleaned up. I came out dripping wet with a towel wrapped tightly around my body. I peeked through the doorway to make sure Percy was still asleep before running back to my bed to get dressed. I was ready and waiting for Percy to be ready too so we could go get food.

But he was still in bed.

I walked over to him and shook his shoulders. Nothing. Then I removed all of his covers which was slightly disturbing. He didn't sleep with much on… but the essentials were covered. Still nothing. It's not like I could yell at him or scream in his ear really loud to wake him up. So I flicked him hard on the forehead.

His eyes shot open.

"Ow! What was that for?" He exclaimed sleepily. I stood over him with my arms crossed, tapping my foot. Then I signed to him for the first time since being back.

 _Hurry up, I want food._

His whole demeanor brightened up and a huge smile stretched across his face. "Yes, ma'am," he said in response. Then he ran off to the shower.

Let's just say that boy was washed and ready in less than four minutes and we were out the door. Percy walked unnaturally close to me as we made our way across the yard to the dining pavilion. I'm not quite sure why, but after all that I had just gone through, I didn't mind. Percy and I merged into the breakfast line with Jason and Piper, who were really excited to see me up and moving around. Piper ran up to me and took me by surprise with out of this world hug and lots of squealing noises. When she walked me back to the line, Jason awkwardly held out his arms to me and I gave in and let him give me a quick hug too. Everyone was laughing and talking like nothing had ever happened. Percy and I piled our plates high with bacon, but I made sure to grab a pancake too, which I tossed into the fire as a prayer to whoever was listening. I didn't care which god it reached, but I needed help and I needed direction that could only come from them.

We sat down in the usual spot and filled in around Annabeth, who was seated there before us. Everyone had noticed that Percy took the special care to sit on my right hand side, far away from Annabeth. There was an air of tension at the table and I was extremely uncomfortable. With Annabeth looking depressingly at her food, and Percy avoiding her direction entirely, breakfast just felt off. It was sort of my fault too. But luckily, the group did everything they could to keep things lively and normal. Annabeth left as soon as she was done instead of waiting for Percy like she always did. That's when everyone could see that something was really wrong with the couple.

As soon as she left, the entire table turned to look at Percy. He looked back at us calmly.

"What?" Percy asked cluelessly. Piper's eyes got big.

"What do you mean what?" She started off hot, "Percy, have you even talked to her since all of this happened?"

"Yes, I have, as a matter of fact," Percy replied, obviously offended, "and I don't necessarily have any urge to talk with her again."

Then he up and left too.

We all sat at the table stunned. Dang, this was definitely my fault. Piper turned to Jason.

"How long do you think it will be before they get over it?" Her expression epitomized the concern that we were all feeling. Jason looked down at his food, then back at Piper while contemplating an answer.

"Babe, gosh, I don't know. I tried to talk with him about it the other day but he wouldn't admit that anything was wrong. And when I tried to ask about it more, he ignored me completely."

"Really?" Piper replied, astonished. "That's awful."

Leo and I just sat and listened to the couple talk. They were the most knowledgeable; they were Percy and Annabeth's best friends. Leo was the quietest he'd been since I met him which was strange.

"What about Annabeth?" Jason asked, "Has she mentioned anything to you?"

Piper took a bite of her toast while thinking about what to say.

"Yeah actually. She's not doing good…" Piper trailed off for a moment.

"Why? What's she been saying?" Jason asked quickly.

Instead of responding to her boyfriend, Piper turned and looked me dead in the eye.

"Katrina, you need to know how sorry she is." I looked at Piper and the sincerity in her face was almost grave as she continued on, "She didn't mean for you to take action on anything she said, I-" she paused and thought for a second. "She hasn't slept, she barely eats, and I've asked her to come and talk to you to get it off of her chest but she won't she doesn't feel like any apology is enough to make up for what she did."

No judge, but I was definitely crying. I turned to Leo and made a motion for pen and paper which he quickly understood and was able to retrieve from his magic tool belt. I took it, wrote, and shoved the paper towards Piper, which read:

 **I just want to know why.**

She looked up at me and shook her head, "She won't tell you I tried to get her to talk to you remember?" I grabbed the paper back and scribbled on the bottom: **Then will you tell me? Piper, I need to know.**

Piper glanced and Jason for a second, then back at me. She nodded her head.

"But let's not talk here," she said with sympathetic eyes toward the boys and I nodded in response. We got up and threw away the remains of breakfast and I followed her to Aphrodite's cabin. She got all of her siblings to leave the room somehow without questions, so we took a seat on a very plush, orange rug that covered the floor.

"This is where Annabeth and I come to sit and talk," she mentioned as we got comfortable. "Oh! I almost forgot, here this might be helpful to you." She crawled over to a drawer and pulled out a small whiteboard and dry erase pen. "That way you can write and erase and never run out of room like you would on paper."

I smiled great big in thanks as she handed me the board. It was a black marker too, which I appreciated. And so I started writing:

 **Can we start at the beginning?**

"Yes, I think that's the best place to start. Just remember if you have questions along the way don't be afraid to ask." I nodded in response. Piper took a deep breath, and then began.

"You know, normally I would never go and divulge Annabeth's feelings like this, but I do think this is absolutely necessary. I'm sure you could tell in the beginning that she didn't like you all that much. The first thing that set her off was obviously how you communicate. She was very frustrated when she couldn't find any pattern to how you were 'speaking', but it perturbed her even more when Percy was able to understand you no problem. She still has no clue how he's doing it, but he doesn't have barely any trouble at all right? Anyway, things got worse after that. Since Percy was the only one who could translate for you, you two spent an awful lot of time together. Annabeth is a very logical person most of the time. But all logic flies out the window for her when it comes to Percy. Let's just say, she's extremely protective over people that she cares about, especially Percy, so she got jealous almost immediately. She admitted to me, that she found herself muttering names at you as she passed and would catch herself staring at you whenever you were around him. Don't think you were special though, Katrina, even _I've_ gotten that look before. But I guess you didn't quite get the memo, and when you didn't back off, she was positive you guys had a thing going on—yeah no I see that face, he's not my type either—but yeah. It was just strange, because you and Will, no offense, but you guys are pretty obvious. And Annabeth swore up and down that it was all fake. You definitely pushed her buttons when you tried to join the book club too. She came up with every reason not to let you in, but the only reason she had was that she didn't want to see you. She said that seeing you made her feel like she was losing Percy a little more every time. I know that to you and I it seems absurd, but you have to realize that to her, this was all very real. Then, you know, you and Percy had that little scuffle. Don't worry! He made sure everyone already knew that he was the one who started it and that it wasn't your fault. But honestly, Katrina, that was pretty scary. You were in a zone and if Percy hadn't gotten through to you at the end, we aren't sure what would have happened. As you probably had figured out before, Annabeth was furious. She had so many feelings already about you and this did not help in the least. And the way Percy protected you about it made it worse. She thought you had won him over already. When she told him how upset she was about it, he told her that she should have had more faith in you and him and that she was upset over nothing. Annabeth spent a lot of time in here with me after that."

Piper took a second to breathe and think about what came next.

"That was coming up close to when she confronted you outside Athena cabin that last time huh?"

I thought about it and nodded in response.

"Yeah, well you know what happened there. And I hope that everything that she said makes a little bit more sense now." I nodded again. "That night you left I think. And she did get your letter. She didn't want to read it. But she felt bad throwing it away and so she gave it to me to keep. I didn't feel right reading it, but she wouldn't either. I imagine, now that we know what you tried to do, it said something about where you were going?" I nodded.

 **Do you still have it?**

"Um, I don't think so. I think that Annabeth took it once and never brought it back. No doubt it's gone."

I pursed my lips and then shrugged. Oh well.

"Anyway, the next day everyone woke up like normal, you usually came to breakfast but you skip meals so often we didn't think about the fact that you were missing. It wasn't until that afternoon when Will came and found Percy and asked if he knew where you were. He mentioned that he would always see you practicing in the heat of the day without fail, but you didn't make it out that day. Percy realized he hadn't seen you either. So they teamed up and went searching for you. Percy asked Jason and I to look as well which we did. When you didn't show up to dinner either, Percy felt like something was wrong. He ran off to find Chiron and asked him to do a camp search, which Chiron announced quickly. When you weren't found in the camp, Chiron immediately locked himself in his study for the rest of the night. Percy yelled at him through the door that we needed to do something, but he wouldn't come out. I bet that Annabeth had an idea that she was the reason you ran away, but she didn't mention what happened the day before to anyone, not even me. Not until you came back. Either way, you were gone and chaos ensued after that. Percy was very angry at Chiron for not doing anything and threatened to go look for you himself. As you can imagine, Annabeth didn't take that well. But the next day, Chiron came out and asked for volunteers for a search party, as is required in camp protocol. This time though, he demanded that there be three. Obviously he thought you were a pretty big deal, or someone higher up thought so, and they were going to stop at nothing to get you home. Percy and Will took the following month the hardest. With you gone, Percy was requested to stay at camp in case you came back here. Annabeth was at his side as long as he would let her be there. But after a while, he became so depressed that he didn't want to speak unless it was in helping organize and discuss possible places you might be hiding. Annabeth was completely without hope of things being the way that they used to. She had almost given up on herself and Percy. Then, Percy called Tyson." She stopped the story for a moment to stop and ask some questions.

"Was that really you? Down with Tyson?"

I nodded and a sad smile made its way across my face.

"Can I hear that part of the story?" She asked me and then smirked. "That can be the payment, a story for a story. Let's put all of the pieces together."

I smiled and nodded. Piper was definitely a fair person. So I went ahead and described my story starting at the beach when I went to drown myself and how I realized I had Poseidon's blood in my veins.

"Do you think that was when you were claimed?" Piper inquired.

 **Um, maybe. I was sort of more focused on what to do since I wasn't dead, so I didn't really notice.**

"Oh, that makes sense," She mentioned, giggling. Then she stopped herself. "Sorry I probably shouldn't be laughing."

I said that it wasn't a big deal now that it was over, and then I continued my story. I mentioned the color and how I could talk and sounded like Annabeth.

"Oh my goodness that freaked me out so much! When you were talking that night when we found you," Piper said amazed. "And when Tyson said that you were blue and could talk that really confused Percy." I nodded and told her how I worked down with the Cyclops in what I thought was Poseidon's palace and then how Percy called and I fled.

"Yeah there was a patrol on the beach that night and they thought they saw something but they weren't sure and Percy hadn't gotten to them yet. He was really upset to hear that you may have been there and we missed you." I stopped the story for a second to ask my own question.

 **How was Will during this time?**

"I'm surprised you hadn't asked earlier," she said with a wink. "But no he wasn't doing well. He didn't get depressed like Percy did, but that was because he kept busy. He was doing everything he could to help find you and he did things just to do things and be busy. Will was absolutely the most positive out of all of us. He was the one to raise everyone's spirits and inspire us to keep looking."

That brought a huge smile to my face and peace to my mind. I was so proud of him for believing in me enough not to give up. I kept going and talked about living in the forest. Hesitantly, I mentioned corresponding with Will. Piper's jaw dropped.

"Hold up, you mean to tell me that for the last few months of you being gone, Will knew you were living in the forest?" Her tone was most serious and I almost scared to respond, but I said yes.

"Oh my gosh and he didn't tell us? That little turd!" But then she smiled. "You better keep him if he's willing to withhold that info from us just for you, Percy especially." I blushed and nodded that I would definitely keep him.

I continued on and told her about that night and, because I really trust Piper, and because I was itching to see her reaction, I told her that he kissed me.

And holy hades did she flip. Her hands flew to her mouth and her eyes tightened into small squints, gosh I blushed so much. Squealing, she reached over and grabbed my hands.

"Oh that is SOOO sweet! Oh Katrina, you guys are perfect I can't stand it!" I laughed a little and mouthed thank you. She let go of my hands to wipe the imaginary tears from her eyes. "Gosh, okay you can continue now."

So I did. I described my little home in the tree and finally stopped where Will and I were stopped by Percy and I ran for the trees.

"I remember Percy talking about that part yesterday I think. I went in to talk to him and he said he was up late and couldn't sleep and he heard something rustle in the trees. That must have been you." I nodded and proceeded to tell her that I noticed Percy's cabin lights on. But both of knew what had occurred after that point.

"Now that Percy has found out what happened with Annabeth, well, as you can see he's not speaking to her. She is very distraught and doesn't care about you anymore—though that might sound harsh—she just wants Percy back." Piper ended with a sigh. "I don't know how things are going to go from here on out."

 **I want to talk to Annabeth.**

"I'm sure she will be okay listening to what you have to say," Piper replied. "Are you going to try and talk to her by writing?"

 **Some of it at least. I was going to ask you if you would be alright accompanying me, sometimes talking for me. Since you have the voice and the knowledge.**

"I'm glad to help anyway I can. What did you have in mind?"

Piper and I sat on her floor until lunch figuring out all I wanted to say to Annabeth. We came up with a plan and decided to confront her later this evening. There was supposed to be some camp competitions tonight, but Piper told me that Annabeth would most likely not be attending. We went outside and met Jason at his cabin to walk to lunch together. I went through the line and tossed half of my grilled cheese sandwich into the fire and plead to Athena that my talk would Annabeth would run smoothly and thanked Aphrodite ten times over for the gift her daughter Piper.


	20. Chapter 20

**Hey Guys,**

 **Here is some Nico and Percy interaction for ya. I'm just gonna keep the chapters coming.**

 **Happy Reading!**

 **-c.c.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything you recognize (Riordan)**

* * *

I followed Jason to our usual table when I heard my name being called from across the pavilion.

"Katrina? Katrina!" I scanned the crowd and saw Will half-standing and waving his arms for me to come over to sit with him and his siblings. I looked over at Piper and she just smiled and mouthed 'Go'. I smiled a thank you and left to find a spot next to Will. I waded through the sea of bodies until I got to the Apollo table. Will had cleared a spot for me next to him on the end.

"Hey," he said as I sat down with my food, "you look a lot better. How are you feeling?" A smile was plastered to his face.

I grinned in return and nodded my head to show that I was doing alright. We started talking about what was happening during the week and about what had happened while I was away.

"You know," Will said sadly, "you had me really worried, Katrina." I looked up from my food and over at him as his spoke, more to his food than to me. "I didn't know why you left or if it was something I did. I kept thinking over it and wondered every day what I could have done that would have made you want to stay." He lifted his eyes to meet mine and my heart melted at the sight of tears that glossed his pupils. "I still don't even know why you really left." He sighed in conclusion.

He deserved an explanation. Of everything, absolutely all of it. I signed, _I'm sorry_ , which he knew too well, and then I turned my body towards his and tried to logically sign the next part.

I pointed to myself and he was a little confused.

"You?" He asked, furrowing his brow.

I had to be smarter about this.

I pointed to my eyeball.

"Eye?" Will asked. I nodded and then pointed to himself.

"Me?" I shook my head then made the sign for name, which I had taught him, and then pointed back to him.

"Um, Will?" He said while imitating me. "Oh, I will…" I nodded excitedly. A smile crossed his face quickly before vanishing as he focused on my hands, which were moving like a sculptor's would with his clay.

"Um molding? Sculpting?" I shook my head and continued.

"Building… making? Making! Make!" Will exclaimed with the nod of my head. "I will make…" And then I did the alphabet sign for I and T.

"It! I will make it?"

Then I finished the sentence, pointing to the sky, holding up two fingers and the pointing back to him.

"Um, oh! Up to Will! I mean me!" Will laughed in realization of his error and I laugh with him. "I will make it up to you, right?" I smiled and nodded as he laughed again and reached forward to grab my hands. He looked at me and spoke.

"Gosh, I'm glad you can write now," and we laughed and turned back to finish up our food.

But I was thrown off guard when I felt something soft hit the back of my head. I turned around behind me to see Nico staring at me with a fierce glare. We made eye contact for a moment, and then he got up and left. I looked at the floor and found a wadded up cheeseburger wrapper. I picked it up and shoved it into my pocket without Will paying too much attention to it. He didn't ask about it at least. I finished my food before Will, so I said my goodbyes and then got up to clean my tray. At the trash, I took out the wrapper and opened it discreetly. In capital letters it read:

NOW

Uh oh. I was definitely in trouble.

I was a little taken aback. Nico had never asked or even suggested meeting during the day. I could very easily be spotted, but his capital letters and stern expression helped me decided that I didn't really have a choice in the matter.

So I went on a walk. I walked down toward the beach and walked in the sand. Then I took a stroll down to the strawberry fields. I came back and walked through the tree line along the back of the northern cabins until I got behind Hades. I went up to the back door and knocked out the pattern quickly, hoping that the back door worked exactly like the front. After a moment of silence the black door quietly squeaked open and let me into Nico's room. I walked in a took a seat on his bed. He wasn't there, but he would be in a few minutes per usual. So I waited in the dark room. I waited. And I waited. And then I got up and paced. And continued waiting. Then he came.

He was not happy when he came.

And I didn't really even see him when he came. I was standing and watching the door when out of nowhere I get a hard punch in the face. I staggered backwards and grasped my jaw as I watched Nico re-materialize on the other side of the room.

"You," he started off angrily. Then Nico took a breath and came in more calmly, "You deserved that. And so much more."

I just stared at him coldly. He shadow traveled right in front of me and gripped the collar of my t-shirt. He yelled and threw it down and walked around the room with his head in his hands. Then Nico stopped in front of me and grabbed onto my forearm, squeezing tight.

"What in the hell were you thinking?!" he screamed his accusation at me and I saw the worry that remained in his face.

"It doesn't even matter," Nico continued on, "but if you're going to try and pull that shit again then let me know. Cause I'm out." He said this in all seriousness and misty eyes. "I'm not going to let myself get attached to you if you're just going to die and not care one bit about who you're leaving behind!"

I shook my head slowly and reached over to pull his hands into mine. I walked him over to me again and I hugged him, just like he hugged me the first time. I could feel the wetness of his tears on my shoulder.

"You're an asshole," he whispered in my ear between sobs. I nodded my head in agreement. I was definitely an asshole. To a lot of people. Nico pulled away and turned around to wipe his tears privately. Then he walked over to his desk. Opening the drawer, he pulled out my sky notebook and black pen.

"I guess since I can tell you're sorry you can have these back," he held the notebooks away from his body and I walked over and took them. "Oh, and I don't know if you would want to read them, but I wrote a lot of angry letters to you in there while you were gone."

I looked at him with eyebrow raised, like, really? He just closed his eyes and shrugged, turning back towards his desk.

"I think that was all I wanted to do."

I opened my book and sat back down on his bed to write. It didn't take long before I handed him the note, which he chose to read out loud.

"In truth, I wasn't thinking when I made those decisions. All that was in my head was fear. Fear that I wasn't enough and that I wouldn't ever be and that I didn't want to watch everyone around me deal with my inadequacy," He stopped speaking to glance up at me sadly. "But now I know I can't run from what I have to do and that there are people here that care about me more than I could ever ask for. I don't plan on hurting them like that again."

Nico shut the cover and held it out to me. I reached out for it, but he held it there for a moment longer.

"I'm sorry about punching you, but I'm glad it did. Because I think you realize that you are stronger now. I think you understand that you have strength in hidden places, like the people that love you, and I think that you have come to terms with who you are and what you are meant to do." He let go of the book and walked to the back door. I followed.

"Go and do what you are good at," Nico smiled and I responded by flicking his shoulder and smiling. He was such a strange, happy, sad boy. I walked down the steps and retraced the path I walked before and stopped at the dining pavilion, which was deserted. Still I sat down.

I was absolutely exhausted.

But I was also absolutely ready to get back to Annabeth.

I missed him a lot.

I wasted no time and went straight to the weapons shack by the practice arena to fetch Annabeth. I remembered doing repairs on him right before I left so he should be ready for some action. I twisted the latch and pulled open the heavy barn-like door to reveal the massive stash of weapons, armor, and practice dummies. I waded through the piles of pointy things, into the back right corner, uncovering a bin where I hid Annabeth. But when I reached down into the bin I pulled out a fistfull of straw instead. Oh no they didn't.

I wrenched the bin out from the tight corner and flung it out onto the floor of the shed. I completely removed the lid and peered down to inspect its contents.

Or should I say, the remnants of its contents.

In shock, I knelt and pulled out shredded pieces of Annabeth's carefully patched sackcloth and scooped out armfulls of hay.

Dammit.

"Um, is someone in here?" The voice came from the doorway.

Damn it all.

The door opened the rest of the way and a camper stepped inside.

"Oh, Katrina, it's you," said Percy. He looked as though he had just finished practicing. Then he saw Annabeth lying in pieces in front of me. "Shit, okay I knew this was going to happen sooner or later."

Percy carefully made his way through the mess of equipment to sit down opposite me, the box and Annabeth in between us. I signed to him: _Someone ruined my practice sack_.

"I know," he said with a sigh. He pulled his fingers through his hair and then picked up a piece of the cloth. "I know. And I know you'll be upset, but I'm not going to hide the fact that it was me."

I looked over at him wide eyed. And not very happy.

"Yep," he muttered. He sighed again. "I—I'm sorry. But I hope you can understand me when I say why." So I crossed my arms and waited for him to explain himself.

"I was here a lot when you were gone. You came here almost every day and I know that you enjoyed it a lot. You even had your own practice sack and treated it like it was a person almost. Not in the fact that you beat it up and ripped a lot of holes in it, but when you sewed it back together and stuff like that. And, I mean, I come here sometimes to get my anger out, you know like you do, and I did that a lot when you left. One of those days, I saw the box in the back. I knew that you put your sack there, and so I took it out to look at it. But gosh Katrina it reminded me of you. It made me so angry that you were gone and I was doing my freaking best to get you back and it still wasn't enough. I tried to put it back but whenever I came in to get something or put a weapon back I saw it there and I broke down. Then, I had enough. So I dug it out and took it out and…" He trailed off and reached over to grab a few straws of hay. " … you know what happened. This was one of the last physical things I did after you left. After this, I didn't think you would ever be back."

I uncrossed my arms and looked at Percy. _Yeah, I understand now_.

"I guess what's left is, will you forgive me?"

I signed: _On one condition_.

"What is it?"

I got up and onto my feet before telling him.

 _You have to help me put it back together again._

"What?" He whined. "Why can't you just use a different one? That will take ages to reassemble."

I signed: _Do you want to make it up to me? Or not._

Percy shook his head and then piled the Annabeth bits back in the crate. Then he picked it up and followed me out the door and we walked back to the cabin.

"Gosh, someone is particular about their practice sacks."

I shrugged.

"Don't tell me. You named it didn't you."

I signed: _Not even ashamed._

"No way. You're lying! You actually named it?" I nodded.

"Now you have to spill." I shook my head.

"You have to!" I signed: _Promise you won't tell?_

"Katrina, really?" I laughed a little: _The name is Annabeth._

"You should mass produce these." Percy said with a snicker. I smiled and shrugged a maybe towards him.

"Well, don't worry. We'll get her back together in no time."

I almost clotheslined him in response. He jolted to a stop when my fist hit his chest and I turned to face him with a serious face. I signed:

 _It's a He._

Percy just stared at me, with one hand holding onto his chest. He puttered out a small breath and shook his head.

"I'm just not going to respond to that."

 _Don't hate on Annabeth because he's a boy and I like him more than you right now_ , I signed before walking away. Percy followed in behind and mocked me quietly, but not quietly enough.

"Well if you like him so much why don't you marry him."

I turned around as I opened the door and signed:

 _Because his name is Annabeth, not Will._

And I walked inside.

"Uh woah woah kiddo, hold on there," Percy said as he entered the cabin behind me.

It was close to dinner, so I walked to the bathroom to wash my hands.

"No come back here," Percy said sternly, putting the box down by my bed. So I came out with clean hands on my hips and waited for him to speak.

"Um, Katrina, are you really serious about this thing with Will?" He said awkwardly. He didn't want to make eye contact with me.

I signed: _Percy come on, I like him but that was a joke._

"Oh," Percy's face lit up and he smiled up at me, "okay then good."

I signed: _Gosh, what am I going to do with you._

But what I really thought was, I really need you to stop acting like my dad or you are going to get me killed.

I told Percy to hurry up and wash his hands for dinner. I was starved and was eager to get dinner done with. I was nervous about meeting with Annabeth, but things needed to be fixed and I wanted my mom back.

There was also the huge problem that if I didn't get Percy and Annabeth back together then I would actually cease to exist and all of Olympus would crumble and pretty much everyone would die.

I didn't like that option as much.


	21. Chapter 21

**Wow, I didn't realize this was such a short chapter. But here is some reconciliation between Annabeth and Katrina.**

 **HEY.**

 **Keep the reviews coming. ;)**

 **Happy Reading!**

 **-c.c.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything you recognize. (Riordan)**

* * *

We made it to dinner and met Piper and Jason in line. Piper had remembered the whiteboard and marker, which she ended up just giving to me to keep. She said that it would be more useful to me than it would ever be to her. Of course, Percy was just in awe that HE didn't think of that sooner. But we all knew that he would never have come up with it, even if his life depended on it. I stopped at the fire altar to make sure my mac and cheese hit the fire and went up as an offering to Athena, to ask for her blessing tonight in bringing her kin back together.

Piper and I sat together at the table and I spent most of the meal talking with her about our days. Finally, she asked the question I was waiting for.

"Katrina," she started out, "Are you sure you want to do this?" I took a second to think over it and responded with a firm nod. I didn't want to put it off any longer. She nodded too and we waited for Annabeth to come to sit. But she never came.

 **Where is she?**

Piper looked at me with concern in her eyes.

"I'm not sure."

 **We should go and look for her.**

"That's a good idea." Piper told the boys that we were going to go for a walk and we dumped our trays on the way out of the pavilion.

"Let's try her cabin first, that's the most logical place right?" I gave Piper a reassuring nod and we made our way to Athena. Piper knocked and proceeded to call out to Annabeth.

"Annabeth? Are you there?" There was no immediate answer, but I pressed my ear to the door and heard the sound of muffled tears. Instead of waiting for a response I turned the knob on the door and walked in.

Annabeth's desk was positioned on the right wall and it was there, sitting on the floor with a box of tissues, that we found Annabeth.

I wasn't really expecting to talk to Annabeth until tonight, but there's no time like the present.

Piper walked in behind me and shut the door. Annabeth looked up with puffy, red eyes and sniffled. She didn't say anything, but her mouth opened slightly in protest when she realized that Piper had brought me here. Piper sat down on the floor across from Annabeth and I did the same. I looked over at Piper for some help, I didn't know how to start this.

"Hey Annabeth, can we talk to you?" Piper asked cautiously. Annabeth swallowed slowly and then grabbed another tissue to blot her tears away. But she nodded and tried her best to be composed.

"I'm sorry that I did this," Piper started out calmly, "but I told Katrina about what happened and what you felt and thought concerning her for the past six months or so. Now, I'm going to ask that you please not try to hide anything or act stronger than you are, there's not anything you can say right now that Katrina doesn't know."

Annabeth's eyes flowed over with tears and she grabbed another tissue and hid her eyes behind it.

"Katrina, I'm so sorry," Annabeth whispered.

I took out my board.

 **Annabeth, I forgive you.**

She looked up and read the note. Then she looked at me and continued to cry.

"I don't know how you ever could," she whimpered back to me.

 **Because every action was my decision.**

She looked down at the floor.

"Annabeth, the first thing that you need to know is that there is nothing between Katrina and Percy."

Annabeth's head shot up and her wet eyes were glued to me. "Don't lie to me to make me feel better."

 **I'm not. But I don't love Percy. I understand what you thought and why you thought it, and I'm sorry for putting you in the position that I did. But I promise you there is nothing going on that would ever come between you and him.**

"How can I be sure?" Annabeth demanded.

"Annabeth, have you ever asked Percy?" Piper asked. Annabeth's lips parted and she took a moment to realize that she hadn't.

I wrote.

 **Percy is my brother, and that would be just gross.**

I had to lie. I had to go with the identity of being a daughter of Poseidon. At least for now.

Annabeth took that statement and mulled it over too. Then she burst into tears again.

"But I can't ask him now!" she cried. "He won't talk to me! He won't even look at me, Katrina, I know what you said is true, at least from you—" she stopped to take a breath. "But I will never know what he felt if he felt anything at all." At this Piper jumped in.

"This won't last forever, and he will come around. I promise."

Annabeth just cried.

 **You can't give up on him.**

"Well why not!?" she spat at me in despair.

 **If you give up on him, what reason does he have to come back to you? You need to let him know that you still want to be there for him because right now he's probably not seeing that you still value him.**

"I do," she said.

 **Then show him.**

"You don't have to pretend like everything's okay," Piper consoled her. "Just hold onto that hope, please?"

Annabeth nodded while rubbing her eyes.

I started to write again.

 **I don't want there to be any hard feelings or tension between us anymore, Annabeth. I'm sorry for what has happened and I know you are too and I forgive you. I hope you can do the same for me. But can we start over? I don't want to throw away this opportunity to have a friendship with you.**

"I do forgive you, Katrina," she paused to breathe shakily. "I would like that, to start over I mean," Annabeth tried to smile, and I smiled back to encourage her. I got up from the floor and held my hand out for her to grab. Piper saw my intentions and filled the words in for me.

"Let's go back to the pavilion, most everybody should be in their cabins preparing for the competitions. I bet there's still some macaroni left for you."

Annabeth nodded and Piper went to the door.

Annabeth stopped to hug me and I embraced her tightly. When we parted, I held her hand and we walked together, the three of us, to the pavilion and got Annabeth some food. Piper made a point to suggest that we skip the games that night and have a girls night in Aphrodite instead. There were no oppositions and we spent the evening painting our nails, doing our hair, and listening to Piper retell my story to Annabeth. There were parts that were hard, but she definitely freaked out when Piper told her about when Will and I kissed. She was shocked, but so happy, for me and for herself I'm sure. It was important for her to see the evidence of Will and I. I'm just glad that we were okay now, if any part of my story was going to help her, I would tell it ten times over.

She accepted me. That was more than I could ever ask for. I was so caught up in the idea that I would never have a real relationship with Annabeth, but it was real now. The war between my mother and I was over, and we both won.


	22. Chapter 22

Day 5! And I hope you're ready to feel some feels today.

Special thanks to son of hades1 and The Son of Greece for reviewing! I'm glad you guys are enjoying the story!

Happy Reading!  
-c.c.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything you recognize (Riordan)

* * *

That night, Piper and Annabeth introduced me to a completely new way of living. They invited me to do a lot of things with them. We all know I suck at everything, but those two helped me to embrace it. It became a joke we had between us. We would go and do things like canoe, or archery and of course, I wouldn't be very good at it, but it made Piper and Annabeth smile. I wasn't good at making jokes, but by being one, in a sense, I could get the same reaction. They were so good about helping me too. I loved this feeling of having friends that had your back like that, like having sisters. I spent a lot of time with them from that moment on.

But it was also a little depressing. There would be nights where I would lie awake in bed and think about when this was all over. If what I think is going to happen, actually does, then these relationships will end up biting me in the butt. If I go back unchanged, I'll be the teenager among adults. If I'm reborn, I'll be a baby among adults. I guess I could get my memory wiped too, but that would suck for everyone else. All the inside jokes that I would never understand, I don't know.

I've always wanted to get back to my life in the future, but all of a sudden, it didn't look so good anymore.

Nevertheless, I did my best to keep my eyes on the present. And, believe me, there was a lot that I had to focus on. Chiron had asked me to come and meet with him privately when I felt I was ready and fully recuperated. Honestly, I had been well enough for a while, but I wasn't mentally or emotionally ready for the questions I suspected he would ask me to answer. I needed to think about it a little more before I could face him.

And still, I had yet another problem.

His name was Percy Jackson. It was a few days after my talk with Annabeth when he confronted me about his feelings. I was writing in my journal on my bed one morning and he called me over to his desk where he was working on something for Chiron.

"Hey Katrina, um, do you have time to talk?" he asked.

I signed, _Yeah, but give me a sec_. I was finishing up my paragraph. I walked over and leaned up against his desk. _What's up?_

Percy looked up at me with his blue-green eyes. They looked a lot colder than they usually were.

"How can you even think about being around her?"

 _Excuse me?_

"Annabeth, Katrina. You've been with her a lot lately, but how? How can you stand to be around her!?" Percy's tone quickly escalated to a yell.

 _Percy, calm down—_

"No! Katrina, she told you to kill yourself! She was rude and a bully and she made your life here at camp miserable!" He waved his hands to emphasize his disapproval, but I broke in with my own hands to stop him.

 _Percy I talked to her, I forgave her, we—_

"That's not okay!? She has no excuse for what she's done to you!" I stood over him and signed to him angrily.

 _She doesn't have excuses Percy she has reasons!_

"No there is no reason for anyone to do that!"

 _Did you ever think that her reason might be you!?_

Percy stopped moving with his mouth parted in shock and doubt. But I saw the gears in his brain working.

"What… What do you mean?" he asked cautiously.

 _Percy, did you realize you started spending a lot of time with me when I first came to camp?_

"Well, yeah but—"

 _And did you realize that you spent less time with Annabeth?_

"I mean, I guess, but—"

 _Percy, she thought there was something going on between us._

"That's ridiculous! She knew it was because I was the only one who could help you talk."

My hands moved slower and my signs became calmer.

 _Even for Annabeth, all logic flies out the window where love is present._

Percy sat for a moment to think about those words and what they meant. I could see the anger in his eyes replaced with guilt and worry.

"I thought she knew…" he trailed off and became lost in his thoughts again.

 _She knew, Percy, but she didn't believe it. What she thought and imagined was more real to her than anything else._

His facial muscles tightened into a frown and his fists were clenched.

"I thought she was smarter than that," he glanced down and kept his eyes on the floor. I got down on my knees in order to reappear in his line of sight.

 _Please, try and think about it from her point of view. Imagine she had to care for a new guy that came to camp, and every time you went to see her she was with him, talking and laughing like we do._

I could have given him more, but I could tell that I didn't need to. Percy's sea-green eyes misted over and his fists uncurled and covered his face. He wiped his tears away in one movement, then entwined his fingers and placed his elbows on his knees. His torso was tilted forward and he spoke to me softly.

"I need to get her back."

 _I know._

"I don't know how," Percy admitted reluctantly. More tears began to form.

 _Just talk to her Percy._

"After what she did to you how can I even look at her?" he asked this with such fear that I was scared to answer in case it wasn't the response he was searching for. But I did anyway.

 _If I can forgive her, so can you_.

He studied my face for a time, thinking over my words and his feelings. Then he grabbed my face from either side and planted a small kiss on the top of my head. He pulled away but left his palms resting on my jawline.

"I have been really blind, Katrina. Thank you for showing me what I failed to see." He smiled sadly and folded his hands in his lap.

"I never knew I needed a sister until now."

Like Percy acting like my dad wasn't bad enough? Now he was my brother.

But instead, I returned his smile and nodded to him. I stood up and walked over to the door. I wanted to try and get to the practice arena before lunch, but Percy's voice stopped me before I opened the door.

"Um, Katrina?" I noticed that he had stood up and begun playing with his fingers as he watched me.

"I, um, should I go now?" Percy seemed nervous and unsure. I nodded yes.

"Is she in her cabin?" he asked again.

 _I'm not sure_ , I signed in response. _Let's go look._ Percy looked back at his desk before nodding and walking over to join me in the doorway. We walked silently to Athena cabin, where I pretty much had to push him up the steps and then knock on the door for him. I was walking away towards the arena when Annabeth answered the door. I witnessed him reach a hand out to her, and I saw her hesitantly take it. The couple headed to the beach, hand-in-hand. Lifting my face skyward, I said a silent prayer to Athena and Poseidon to put aside their fierce competitive natures and help their children make amends.

Things were definitely much better after that.

They came back laughing and talking like old times. Piper and I could see them from the table as they got in line. I looked over at her and smiled.

"Girl, I don't know what you did," she joked while taking a huge bite of pizza, "but we all thank you. This camp was beginning to become unbearable."

I heard Annabeth giggle while trying to deflect the olives that Percy was launching at her. Yeah. Things were going to be alright now. Percy sat down across from me, and Annabeth, next to him where Piper and I greeted her and began conversing. Somehow the topic was quickly switched over to me.

"Katrina, have you decided when you were going to talk to Chiron? Rachel told me he was getting anxious," Annabeth asked. I had thought about it and I wanted to get it done soon.

 **I was thinking tomorrow actually. I'm a little anxious about doing it as well.**

"I would think so, you've been putting it off since you got back," Piper remarked sassily.

I shrugged contently, but tomorrow I would get it done. Last night I finally figured out what I was going to say and I wasn't as scared anymore. Especially since things were okay now between Annabeth and Percy. Looking over at them, I marveled in their apparent love for each other. My life had been saved, thank goodness, and hopefully, the world would be saved too. Smiles were glued on to their lips and their eyes lit up whenever they caught glimpses of each other. I was happy for them, and I was happy for us. Because of their love for each other, my little camp family was back together again. And we laughed.

My stomach cried to me in gurgles not to feed it anymore. In fact, it really was unhappy with me, so I made the decision to head back to the cabin and rest before the campfire tonight. I walked in and clicked the door shut behind me. I went over to lay down on my bed and my eyelids slowly shut over my eyes.

"Katrina?"

My eyes shot open. I lifted my head up and looked around the room for the owner of the voice, but there was no one in the room.

"Katrina, please, we know you're there," another voice pleaded.

Slowly, I moved my eyes to the back wall where a water feature was fixed. Low and behold, there was an iris message. So I got up and walked to face the image. There they were.

Surprise.

 _Hi mom, hi dad._ I signed, a little shocked. My dad smiled contently.

"Hey, babycakes."

I was sort of nervous.

 _Um, haven't seen you for a while._ I signed with an ounce of anger. Mom's smile left her face.

"I know, Katrina, I know," she replied dejectedly. "Hermes restricted our communication, and as you will soon find out, the gods are having more problems, and—" her voice broke and tears gathered in her eyes. My dad jumped in and finished her thought sternly.

"Katrina, this will be the last time we get to message you."

Now I was a wreck and my thoughts were a hurricane. They haven't sent me anything for more than a year! Anger burned in my throat and mixed with the tears of hurt that I held back the best I could. I've had so many mixed feelings about my parents over the years, but now this was the last time that I would get a call from them and I didn't know if I was angry or upset or sad or indifferent.

"But there is more to this message than just a goodbye," Dad continued. I did my best to listen, but I couldn't stop myself from looking at them and comparing them to their younger selves. Dad still had a shimmer in his sea green eyes even though he was scruffy and beginning to gray. Mom still had the same curl to her hair and her face was as intimidating as it was here. My mom picked up again, though her voice was sad and muffled.

"Babygirl, we know you are finally going to see Chiron tomorrow, but you can't tell him about us," she stated.

Honestly, that had been my whole plan.

 _I thought that was the point in talking with him?!_ I countered, utterly confused.

"No, the point is to get to Zeus, Katrina, you need to speak before the council and warn them of what is happening here," Dad ordered. His voice was full of urgency and haste. "And you can't have anyone with you when you are there. We prepared for this." Mom broke in here.

"There is a memory locked in a small, optically sensitive ventricle that will open when you are in the room with the gods," she explained systematically. "But Zeus, Poseidon, and Athena must all be present for this memory to unlock. If it all works, there should be a hologram type image that appears that will relay the message. Now, this might scare them so you need to be ready to take whatever junk they say to you, but this message is important. This is the reason you were sent, they need to see this, Katrina." The worry that showed on her face was horrifying and it was difficult to make eye-contact with her. I mean, this entire part of the mission was absolutely not what I thought I was supposed to do. It would have been nice to know this early on so I could mentally prepare for it.

But sometimes you just have to go with the flow.

 _Then what? After I show them, what do I do?_

Then I asked the question I have been asking my entire life.

 _Do I get to come home then?_

My parents stayed silent for a while, occasionally looking at each other and then the screen. Dad broke the silence.

"Katrina, do you remember when you were little and we talked about what we would do when we got to see you again? In person?"

Tears gathered in my eyes. I nodded.

"Remember I said that, no matter how big you were when you came back, I would pick you up and swing you around, and tickle your feet while you hung upside down—"

— _And kiss me and kiss me until, no matter how hard I tried, I would never ever frown._

He smiled. Mom's lip began to quiver.

"That's right," he confirmed. My mom moved to bury her head in my dad's chest and sob. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close. Small, salty beads fell from his eyes.

"That offer still stands," his voice faltered and he attempted to swallow back the tears, "but Katrina, if we don't get that chance, please know that we will never, in our lives, forget you, and that we love you and that we will always love you."

 _No, don't say that._ I signed. My tears fell at my feet. There was pain visible on his face when he spoke and both of our cheeks were wet with sadness.

 _No!_ I shouted with my hands and pulled my fingers through my hair in utter distress.

He signed over to me while still holding my mother.

" _I love you."_

I replied.

 _I love you too._

Then the message cut out and the image disappeared, leaving me standing in front of the water feature with the room quiet and still, just like it was before the call. But I was crying. I loved my parents. Yes, I had felt betrayed and alone when they would be too busy to call and I felt unloved for them having sent me away to do this quest, but deep inside I still loved them.

Dang it. I'm always freaking crying.

I was wiping my eyes when I heard footsteps coming up to the cabin door. I ran into the bathroom quickly and shut the door.

"Katrina? Are you in here?" Percy called from the doorway. I swallowed and banged on the door to tell him where I was.

"Oh alright," he responded. "Everyone is heading to the fire a little early if you feel up to joining us." I heard the door squeak shut and the sound of steps trailing behind. I looked up in the mirror and saw my tear-streaked face. My eyes were red and puffy and I just noticed that I bit my lip and it was bleeding. Robotically, I turned the faucet on and splashed cool water on my face. The liquid pooled in my hands and my eyes closed as I dipped my face into it. I didn't know what to do next, so I kept washing my face. Nico came to my mind and I was reminded of what he told me, about the people that loved me. I decided I needed to find Will. If I was by myself, I wouldn't find the best way of dealing with it. Plus, love was what I really needed right about now.

There was a towel on the floor which I used to dry my face. Then, I walked out to my bed and pulled my hairbrush from my box of belongings. The bristles felt good against my scalp and I sat for about ten minutes just going through my hair and setting it free from all of its tangles. I finally felt good enough after that to walk out the door and over to meet the rest of the camp at the fire. I found Will sitting with Percy, waiting for me to show up. I sat down in the spot in between them and pressed up close to Will. He noticed and took the opportunity to slide his arm behind my back and pull me closer. I didn't resist in the slightest. But I did make a mistake and glanced to my right to see Percy holding Annabeth. I returned my gaze to the fire immediately as I was reminded of the last image I saw of their older selves. My dad holding my mom similar to how Percy and Annabeth sat at the fireside tonight. I pulled myself together with a few deep breaths, but the image lingered in my mind until the end of the night.


	23. Chapter 23

**Wow. I'm pretty bad at posting every day. Sorry guys.**

 **Also, I wanted to take the time to respond to a question from waterfirewitch who asked how both sets of Percy and Annabeth were alive.**

 **Well, in my mind, the two sets of Percy and Annabeth live in different time periods. Because they are only messaging across the time barrier, they aren't in any danger. The thing that would cause issues is if the two sets from different time periods met in the same timeline. I think something awful would happen, but I don't know what. I'm not planning on adding that kind of catastrophe to Katrina's story :) Hope that helps clear things up.**

 **And now, here is chapter 23!**

 **Happy Reading!**

 **-c.c.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything you recognize (Riordan)**

* * *

Sleep was also evasive. I couldn't sleep no matter how hard I tried, tossing and turning, staring up at the ceiling, restless. Anxiety set in and I needed to go and get this talk with Chiron over. Waiting until morning was a difficult task, but I made it. I got out of bed when it was still dark and tied my hair up in a bun, not bothering to shower. Getting dressed was slow, and I walked out the door with my whiteboard and marker just before light hit the horizon. The Big House was dark except for Chiron's study; that was promising. I didn't bother knocking as I approached the large doors, and I walked right through and into the room off to the right. Chiron's eyes met my own over the rim of his glasses and I took the seat opposite him. I passed him the board.

 **I'm ready to talk.**

He looked back up at me and set his glasses down on his desk.

"It's about time, young lady." Chiron moved his wheelchair forward so he could clear some papers off of the table to make room for me and my board.

"Are you having a good morning, Katrina?" Chiron inquired while arranging his things.

I nodded, but thought, no, I'm terrified.

"Well that's good," Chiron wheeled himself back to his original position and a warm smile passed over his old, pursed lips.

"Let's start with a few get-to-know-you questions," Chiron's hands became folded on the table, "You are my biggest mystery, child, and I believe the gods are having the same trouble."

I only nodded once, I didn't want to screw this up.

"First, child, I'm interested in knowing who told you about Camp Half-Blood. We tend not to let word of us go floating around unless we have confirmed that a student is a demigod. Yet, you hadn't been mentioned to Mr. D or I until just before you arrived here," he revealed this with deep curiosity that hinted toward concern. "Do you remember who sent you here?" he inquired directly.

I was careful about my wording.

 **It was just a gut instinct. Like I was being led here. Of course the monsters that were chasing me definitely got me going.**

Chiron read it and chuckled. Good, good, keep it light.

"Well," the old man started, "it's not unheard of, having been led here by some inner force, but very rare. It may have very well been one of the gods who led you here, though none have admitted to it as of yet," Chiron took a notebook from his desk and began to take notes.

"My second question is a bit more personal, I hope you do not find me intrusive, but it is the question that the gods are the most concerned with," He took a second to look at me and re-folded his hands.

"Have you met either one of your parents before, Katrina? I know that from your account, you lived alone and on the streets for the majority of your life, but still you must have met at least one of them before? At an extremely young age, perhaps?"

Again, I had to convince him. Cue the emotions.

 **I don't remember anyone. No one ever helped me or showed me kindness. Sometimes I would get strangers who left half of their lunch on the ground when they saw me, but it was never the same person twice. Not enough to constitute one of them being my mom or dad. Personally, they never cared about me, why should I care about them?**

The anger was there, and so was the distress. Maybe my parents leaving me alone sometimes was actually meant to prepare me for this.

"I see…" Chiron said carefully after scanning my message. I wiped my board clean with the bottom of my shirt. "And you are sure you don't remember a face? A name? Any kind of feature that might connect you with someone?"

 **Chiron, as far as I am concerned, I have no parents. And I have no desire to change that.**

That definitely wasn't true, but I had to cut him off.

"All right, I understand. But, Katrina, let me explain the problems that come with the mystery of your parentage."

I folded my arms and looked at him with eyes that spoke for me: go on.

Chiron cleared his throat and moved his eyes down as he rearranged his papers before finally meeting my eyes.

"You are aware that you have certain powers in the water, correct?"

I nodded.

"Then you can imagine the shock on Mount Olympus when your powers were discovered. Your birth falls into the time period when the eldest gods, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades, were banned from having children. Of course Percy and Jason were exceptions, but there was no mention of this other child whom they quickly discovered could control the seas," He paused to witness my reaction. I nodded in understanding.

"Now, think the further chaos when Poseidon declares that his relationship with Percy's mother, Sally, was the only relationship he had at the time."

I widened my eyes in a look of surprise, and wrote:

 **I had assumed that Poseidon was my father after the night I tried to drown myself.**

"As did we, child," Chiron's brows became knitted and filled with worry. "At a similar moment, Athena accused Poseidon of some sort of trick, without any explanation. She confronted him later saying that until the moment you had stepped in the water she had assumed you were her offspring, a lost twin or sibling that had fallen off the radar. Athena could see her power in you."

At this point, Chiron had closed his eyes and I took a deep breath and pursed my lips in confusion. Well, they know a little more than I thought they would have. I had no clue what was supposed to happen now, and I was not prepared for the next piece of news either.

"I understand that this might be a lot to take in. But there are other pieces of the puzzle you should be aware about," Chiron wheeled around to face a back bookshelf. His eyes scanned the rows and finally landed on a thin, leather-bound book, which he took and brought back to lay on his desk.

"In the ancient history there was recorded an incident concerning Poseidon and Medusa, have you heard of it?"

 **Yes, Poseidon and Medusa were making love in Athena's temple. When she found out, she turned Medusa into a gorgon and there has been a rivalry between the two gods ever since.**

"That is correct, but before they became enemies, there was no written recordings of any exchange between the two," Chiron continued in a hushed tone. "There is rumor among the gods that they had made amends some time ago and have been pretending to continue the feud," he leaned in close to finish the thought. "Many of the younger gods find it too odd that a girl pops up out of nowhere, concealed for almost eighteen years, carrying the lines of both of Poseidon and Athena."

I hung my head in exasperation. I thought gods were smarter than this.

"Yes, my sentiments exactly," Chiron responded.

I opened my pen.

 **You are implying, though it is completely illogical, that I could be the child of** **both** **Poseidon and Athena?**

Upon seeing the script, Chiron quickly held up his hand in protest.

"No, I am implying that there are certain gods who give that idea some credibility. Whether it is true, or even possible, it is adding more dissent to Mount Olympus than there already is."

Gosh, people.

Wait.

 **What trouble is there already?**

He definitely left that part out. From Percy and my parents, I know there is something that is wrong, both now and in the future. But as of late, no one has bothered to explain it to me.

Chiron sighed. He looked at me, debating on if I was important enough to have him disclose such information.

"I may end up being punished for doing this," he stared into my eyes as he spoke, "but I have reason to believe that your being here is no coincidence. As you were led here by an instinct, I must act on mine as well. I'm going to send you to meet with the council."

Woah, that was easier than expected. He totally didn't answer my question, but I doubt I would be without an answer for much longer.

"They are the only ones who can decide where you came from and what your purpose is," He opened the small book and wrote a quick letter on a blank page inside. Then the text disappeared. I jumped a little at the surprise, and a smile crossed over Chiron's bearded face.

"A courier book, instant messaging."

I looked up at him in awe.

"Really? You didn't think that we had to wait for someone to invent cell phones did you?" He laughed as I quickly shook my head in apology.

Chiron rolled his chair out from behind the desk and wheeled over to my right. He approached me seriously.

"Katrina, are you ready to discover what you were created for?

I looked at him hesitantly.

"We all have a purpose, child, every single one of us. And I believe that yours is closely tied with the gods. Now, I will ask you again," he whispered, "Are you ready?"

I smiled at the old centaur and nodded.

"That's the right spirit!" he exclaimed quietly and he punched me in the arm jokingly.

"Breakfast should be coming on shortly. If I were you, I would hurry. The line fills up fast when we have bacon in the mornings."

I rose from my seat and signed, _thank you_.

To which Chiron replied, "You are very welcome."

But breakfast didn't happen.

I had gotten all of the way through the line, piled my plate exceedingly high with bacon, and then a boy camper from Athena ran up to me saying the Chiron requested to see me urgently. Which was either really good or really bad.

So I dropped my plate full of bacon off at the group table, Percy, Jason, and Leo would have to thank me later, and ran off to meet Chiron in the Big House. I found him at the ping pong table, pacing back and forth in his full centaurian glory; his head turned as I opened the door.

"Ah, Katrina, there you are. I am so sorry to cut your breakfast short but the reply from the gods was expedited more than I had expected. The news was also more than I had expected," He resumed his pacing as he continued.

"The council has decided they would like to see you, today… as in right now. They were adamant about being able to visit with you alone, but I protested the idea of sending you through New York all by yourself, to which they agreed would be a horrendous idea. However, they are only allowing one protector to go with you."

Chiron stopped to look over at me.

You know, I was just standing there, taking it all in.

"In normal circumstances, I would send a satyr, but after what happened before your arrival and then the similar incident in the forest before your return, I only feel comfortable, with your permission, sending Percy with you."

Now I wasn't sure how I felt about that. It must have shown on my face because Chiron immediately went into reasons why he should be the one to go.

"Katrina, you must understand that the journey to Mount Olympus is not great, but it is dangerous and with the massive amount of attraction from monsters you receive, you need another hand there to assist you. Also, there will be instances where you would have to speak along the way, and Percy will be able to translate for you."

I was writing as he spoke. He made fairly good points, but I had an adequate point too.

 **How do we expect him to protect me on this trip without asking questions? I know that he will ask why I was chosen to go, and what I was even doing? What do we tell him so that he remains unaware?**

"Fair enough," he responded. "What we will say is this: There is a message coming from Mount Olympus for myself that is too dangerous to send via iris message. In reality there will be a message, about your heritage, but we hope it is not as dangerous as we fear. And that since you were newly 'claimed', by the blue marks on your skin, as a daughter of Poseidon, Poseidon has begged that you be the messenger so you and he could meet face-to-face, which is not uncommon for Poseidon. Percy is still meant simply to keep you safe and wait outside the doors to Olympus. Understood?"

Well, he covered that extremely well. I had no more complaints, I was getting what I needed anyway.

I nodded firmly.

"Then I am going to ask you to retrieve Percy now so we can brief him quickly and send you on your way," he ordered.

I went ahead and left my board and marker on the table while I went to find Percy. He was at the table about halfway through with my plate of bacon. I grabbed a few strips while signing to him that Chiron called us over to talk. Of course he asked for a few minutes to eat. I shook my head while stuffing my own mouth full of bacon. That was a great thing about being mute, I could eat and talk at the same time. I signed, _Just grab as much as you can_. We ran to the Big House with fistfuls of bacon. People were probably judging, but we didn't care.

We arrived and Chiron explained to Percy exactly what we had discussed and all of the questions that I predicted were asked and finally everyone was satisfied.

"When do we leave?" Percy asked.

"Right now," Chiron replied, "You'll call the cab as soon you get to the road."

"Oh!" Percy exclaimed, a little surprised. "Um," he turned to me, "Will you need a weapon?"

Shoot. I mean, I have one, but I didn't know if I was supposed to reveal it. But I wasn't going to go using some other kind of sword.

 _I have one._

"Where?"

I tapped my pocket slightly.

Percy looked at me strangely and then turned to Chiron and then back to me.

"Let's go then?" and Percy started off.

I followed him out the door and we walked over to the edge of camp. Little did I know, since I came down from the north, that down the west slope of the hill was a road. It was still a distance from camp, but not too far. That was where we went.

"I think this is all a little strange," Percy started, scratching his head distractedly, "But it should be fun. I needed something small to get me out of the camp for a while, you?"

I nodded, _Yeah, me too._

"And, uh, can you tell me about this pocket weapon that you have?" he asked with a raised pitch. His eyes revealed the eagerness that he failed to mask in his voice. I was hesitant to oblige, but I ended up bringing out the small golden feather and laying it open in my hand. Percy stopped in his tracks to examine the weapon.

It was a golden color, but extraordinarily light, like a feather. It was as long as a fresh number 2 pencil and the quill was sturdy and chiseled to a blackened tip. Percy picked it up and eyed it carefully. Then he brought out his own ballpoint pen. I took my feather back and simultaneously we opened our weapons. Uncapping and writing the A script for Riptide II, the swords grew to full size in our hands. Percy's gaze remained glued to my Riptide as he spoke.

"It's… they're the same?" he questioned in awe.

I shook my head and signed, _No, this one is mine. That one is yours._

"How did you find this?" Percy asked still comparing the two instruments.

 _The garbage, where I find everything else._

"If you found this in the trash then you were one lucky duck," he commented, looking up at me like I was nuts. "Because, uh, they don't make these anymore. Actually they don't make them, like, at all." He capped Riptide and I pressed a small switch in the handle of _Anaklusmos II_ to change the sword back into a feather.

"I bet it was a weird knock off that an ancient tried to forge, either way it looks pretty sturdy. I know it treats you well at least." Percy continued walking toward the road and I quickly fell in step behind him. Then we reached the edge, and there was not a car to be seen for miles.

I signed to Percy, _Aren't we supposed to call a cab? There aren't any cabs out here to call._

"No no, Katrina. Here at Camp Half Blood we don't just call any cab." He took one step into the road and a hand dove into his pants pocket, eventually digging out a single drachma. He then threw the drachma into the street and as it fell, said:

" _Stêthi 'Ô hárma diabolês_."

The drachma disappeared in thin air and Percy took a quick step back. I could see a thick cloud of darkness racing towards us from the south.

"Here," Percy said while looking off into the distance, "Here, we call on the Chariot of Damnation."

Almost immediately after the words left his lips, the cloud of what I now thought was smoke darted past us, and screeched to a stop around fifty feet away. Then in a puff of even more smoke, it jerked back towards us until it came to another questionable stop right in front of us. The window was cranked down and an old hag with wiry gray-green hair and an eye in her hand stuck her head out.

"Gray Sisters' Taxi! Hmeeheeha! You called?" screeched the witch-like woman.

Oh dear, I knew who these ladies were.

More cackling was heard inside as a door covered in gray tendrils was opened in the back.

Percy started walking but I reached out and grabbed his arm.

 _Fates?_

He nodded. I gulped, in fear of more than just their appearance, before walking over to the "car" door and climbing inside the smoke chariot. The door shut and black chains were wrapped around Percy and my waists. I gasped but he bumped me with his shoulder.

"Don't worry, it's all cool."

"Perrrrseus Jackssson, oh Heehee what a pleasssure it iss!" The woman in the driver's seat turned and pushed her warted, crooked nose against the glass separating us.

"Mhmyes, long time no see," The lady at the window brought her eye up to peer at us.

"Now, where can we take ya da'ling?" The short one in the middle swiveled and wrapped her pudgy gray arm over the seat to address the infamous Percy Jackson.

"Yeah, we, uh, gotta head to the Empire State Building today," replied Percy coolly. I was holding my breath the entire time, and not just because of the horrendous smell that enveloped the entire vehicle. I had no clue how Percy was so tolerant. Of course, he was a boy I supposed.

"Did you hear that, ladies? Mount Olympus!"

"At 'dis time-a year no doubt!"

"Not the wisssssessssst choiccce thisss sseassssson, boy."

"Yeah, yeah," Percy said waving off the warnings. "She's got a message to go get that's a bit urgent so could we get going?" The three fates all turned in my direction, but most importantly the eye was moved so that I fell right in line of sight. I exhaled and a wave of dread washed over my body.

"Clotho?" the short one whispered. "Clotho, who i' she?"

"Yes, Clotho, love, why can't I see her death? Oh no, where is her life?" cried the one by the window.

"Ssissstersss, I–I'm sssorry, but I sssee no—" All three fates shot up straight in their seats and turned towards one another smiling. Percy looked at me confused. I shrugged. Then together, in one voice, they spoke:

"Lossst in time, perhapss?" The one they called Clotho leaned in my direction.

"Um?" Percy began to question, but he was cut off by the driving witch.

"Child, you aren't ssuppossssed to be here. Hmheehee!" she revealed with a clever and excited voice. The three hags giggled in realization.

"Atropos, 'ook at 'er choice! Ya see it?" the short one screamed, hitting her sister by the window.

"I do, I do! Oh the tragedy! We'll have such fun. But, Lachesis, what is tha—" The two conversing fates both gasped and the driver, Clotho shushed them.

"No! You mussssent sssay anymore," She muttered with a finger out to silence her chatty sisters. Then Percy spoke up.

"Now wait a second here, what in Hades—"

"Oh no, dear it's not in Hades, not anymore," the fate Atropos chimed in.

"Ashually it neva was!" added the fate Lachesis.

"SSilence ssistersss!" Clotho cried impatiently as the other fates seemed to shrivel in their skin. A sly smile returned to Clotho's face as she turned to address Percy.

"The hero, Persssseuss Jackssson, hass hailed our humble taxi ssservice and we are wassting hiss time!"

"Wait!" Percy tried to stop the driver by pounding on the glass wall.

"Atropos, the eye!" The sisters faced the front of the taxi and before Percy could object any further, he started yelling, as I would have too if I could, and screaming as the flag on the speedometer was pushed to the max. There was a solid 30 seconds of silent screaming and trying desperately to avoid looking out the window in fear of vomiting, before we stopped. Percy and I grasped at our waists as the jolting stop sent us flying forward into the front seats before slamming us into the back of our own. Without warning the chain-seatbelts were ripped from their places and a huge plume of smoke pushed both Percy and I out of the cab and onto a dirty sidewalk. Percy fell face first into a dropped take-out box of noodles and I stumbled over to the nearest trash can and hurled a good number three over the lip of the can.

I heard the laugh of the Fates echo and the sound of a speeding Chariot of Damnation driving away, leaving Percy and I with a sick case of whiplash and the dizzies.

Percy was sitting up on his knees, holding his head and picking stray noodles out of his hair, and I was trying to spit the taste of stomach acid out of my mouth as the last of the smoke cleared and we were on our own again.

We totally had this under control.


	24. Chapter 24

**Another post!**

 **I've stopped counting the days because I already screwed up too many times.**

 **Also, please review! Let me know how you're feeling! Do you think Katrina is almost done with her quest? Tell me your thoughts!**

 **Happy Reading!**

 **-c.c.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything you recognize (Riordan)**

* * *

"Alright," Percy started huffing and puffing, "You ready to roll?" I coughed and nodded as I stumbled back over to where Percy was knelt. I extended a hand out to him and somehow we both managed to stay upright and on our feet. Percy took a quick look around and pointed up.

"There we are." I followed his finger and down the street there it was, the Empire State building off to the right. "We should probably hurry before we draw attention."

I agreed and we started off swiftly, weaving through the crowds as best we could. It was pretty, as New York was this time in the morning, everyone trying to get to work on time no doubt. I used to go walking this time of day because I was able to blend in and my scent was more easily masked. I prayed for that aspect to work extra well today. It was important that we got there soon, no delay. No fighting, no getting lost, no getting distracted, and no buying donuts— Percy dammit I said no donuts!— we just needed to get there.

Of course, you always expect the bad things to happen to demigods. You never hear about times when everything works out perfectly. Everyone will tell you that those days never happen. I will tell you upfront that is a lie. If we went around telling tales about all of the nice and good things that worked out, no one would bother to take notes. You don't get books written about you by talking about the good days.

So we just tell people that it never works out—well, except today.

What? I'm thankful for this one nice time, okay? It wasn't long before we made it to the building and finally entered through the revolving doors. I started getting nervous. This might be the end, my final hurrah. I didn't know what was going to happen after today. Still, Percy and I walked up to the reception desk.

"Hello, how may I help you?" the receptionist inquired, looking directly at me.

"We are here for an appointment on the 600th floor," Percy responded. He looked a little worried as the receptionist eyed me carefully. It couldn't be that easy, could it? A moment passed before anyone spoke.

"Um…" Percy glanced over to me "Right?"

"She does," the receptionist responded, moving his gaze to Percy. "But who are you?"

"Oh," Percy responded naturally and raised his hand in salute, "Protector, yeah I'm the escort."

"And where is your proof? We don't just let anyone up to the 600th, Perseus Jackson."

"Oh come on you even know my name!"

"Proof, boy. Or no entrance."

"Ugh." Percy pulled his pen out of his pocket and threw it down on the counter. The receptionist opened the pen to reveal the sword, examined it, capped it and placed it back on the counter. He looked down and an elevator to the left dinged open.

"To your left madam." I gave him a nod in thanks and Percy sighed as we walked to catch the elevator to the left; it closed immediately and up we went. 600 floors never felt so fast. I wasn't sure if it was my nerves or if it was just really fast because it was destined for Olympus.

"Hey," Percy bumped my elbow. "Dad is cool, and I'm sure he'll be nicer to you the first time than he was to me."

Oh. Encouraging. I signed a thank you and stared at the closed elevator doors.

Then the doors opened, and boy, I was not ready. The view looked down on a small little city, plaster buildings with patio roofs lined the dirt path leading up Mount Olympus to the glorious home of the gods. We stepped out onto the dusty floor and my eyes were drawn everywhere at once. I wanted to look at the green hillside and plants, but also the people and creatures hustling about their day. I followed the path with my eyes and they rested upon the large marble palace, laced in greek spiraled architecture. Percy walked up behind me and placed a hand on my shoulder. I looked at him and pointed to the building.

"Yep, that's where Dad is."

My mouth opened in a gaping smile. Percy laughed and pushed me along. I couldn't believe my eyes. I was in Olympus. These were gods, great mythical kings and queens that lived on this mountain. I wanted to run, but at the same time I wanted to turn back. The pressure was deadly and at that moment I wish I could look to Percy for comfort. Sadly, he was happy and as ignorant as could be. We walked together and Percy told me stories of all of the things I already knew. He mentioned Annabeth and how she redesigned Olympus herself and revisited when he gave up immortality for her. Then he decided to tell me about his big battle against Kronos. That took a while, but we had the time. Mount Olympus was a lot farther away than it looked from the elevator. It also got steeper. Percy stopped several times to catch his breath, which gave me intermediate breaks in his storytelling; it was refreshing. But the doors drew ever closer and my mind strayed farther from Percy's tales and closer to the thought of my own impending doom or glory. The fate of Olympus, and the gods, and the world or so it seemed, rested in how the gods received this message that I had for them.

I swallowed hard. Hopefully, this video would save the world and that was all.

"And here we are," Percy said between huffs and puffs as we reached the plateau that led to the pillars of marble and gold. He was most definitely phased by the climb. Good thing he was staying out here.

 _And they are all just through that doorway?_

"Yep, there is a hallway, and then bam you're in the Great Hall." Percy walked me to the steps and then sat down in the grass.

"Easy peasy. Dad will be waiting inside with the message."

 _Well, easy enough then._ My mind was racing still.

"Oh, and he might be really large." I snapped my head towards Percy with large eyes.

"He is a god, Katrina. He can do some pretty crazy stuff." I pulled my lips into a purse and sighed. There were so many what if's. I looked toward the door.

I didn't have time to think anymore, I just needed to do. So I decided to go for it. I started up the steps and went through the pillars.

"Good luck!" Percy shouted from behind. I wanted to look back and sign something but I knew if I turned around I would walk straight out of here. Instead I strolled down the crisp hallway. It was dark and lit only by a small torch halfway down; still it was enough to illuminate the hall. Silently, I walked, only the patting of my feet made any noise. The temple made no sound. I plunged onward. Passed the torch. I came to the end and the tunnel opened up into a large room. The ceiling was domed and dark, but, wait, there were specks of light. I walked further into the hall. There were lights, and they made shapes— constellations! As if the ceiling was the sky itself! A crackling fire broke the spell and my attention was drawn to the hearth to my left which guarded the hallway. It filled the space with a warm and homey glow. Shadows were cast by enormous thrones the size of sheds placed in a reverse U shape in the center of the room. There were fourteen in total. These were the thrones of the major gods, which held almost as much power as the gods themselves. They were elevated by a larger slab of marble.

Oh, there were no gods here. Funny.

Well. They have to show up sometime right?

I waltzed over to the hearth and sat on the marble lip. This was Hestia's hearth. It gave light and warmth to the world from this very spot.

Suddenly a gong clanged.

I shot up and away from the hearth stones and backed up towards the doorway. The sound rang throughout the room and lights appeared at the base of each throne. From the back of the room, where pillars shrouded the walls with darkness, came Dionysis robed in purple and gold, a wineskin in his hand. He walked around the left side of the U and sat in the first throne.

The rest came forth, larger than life as Percy explained, dressed in the elegance and lavish style of ancient greek royalty.

Aphrodite emerged, voluminous dark curls cascaded over her shoulders. A glittering gold train traced the ground behind her as she came from my right, filling the second seat, and leaving the first empty.

Hermes walked in with his rod, Caduceus, in his right hand and tanned leather messenger bag at his side. He sat next to Dionysus on the left.

Artemis and Apollo came up together, the sun and moon in synchronized light… and Apollo was wearing shades… typical.

Lady Athena, who saved my life at the river, strided to her seat on the right with confidence. Her violet garment was lined with silver spirals and hieroglyphs.

Hephaestus appeared in a dark toga covered in soot and oil, his hands were also blackened by the forge. He sat next to Apollo. Ares followed shortly behind, joining him at his own throne, carrying a spear in his hand and an elaborate shield on his back.

Demeter was led by her son in law, Hades, the King of the underworld. Demeter's bright green and vivacious garb balanced out the dark maroon of Hades and the two walked solemnly to their seats on the right side of the room.

Poseidon slid from the darknesses and rounded the left side, a short and aqua cape flew behind him as he and his sandals took the last seat on the left, leaving two seats in the center of the U.

At last, Zeus and his wife Hera came forth. Clad in gold and white, the couple traced the edges of the arrangement, greeting the other gods in passing, and met in the center where they took their seats.

In a blaze of fire, which startled me, my attention was drawn to the hearth to see the goddess Hestia and her orange molten skin sitting in the same place I had been earlier.

The room was still and quiet. I was not in awe of the gods before me. I looked at some and reminisced fond memories, others I looked at in utter contempt. The combination of bitterness, impatience, and adrenaline pushed my body forward. Up the marble slab I stepped, walked to the front of the U, and in reverence, bowed on one knee to the gods and goddesses of Olympus.

"Rise," ordered Zeus in a surprisingly soft tone.

I stood up to my feet and faced the gods.

"Who are you?" Zeus asked straightforwardly. At once I felt a coolness like water beginning at my fingertips. I looked down to see the blue tendrils racing up my arms and a multitude of gasps and whispers were heard from the gods. The marine color filled my eyes and, without thinking, I spoke.

"I am the messenger." Instinctively, I turned around and brought my hands together, collecting the moisture in the air and condensing it. I then pushed the small amount of water I collected and pushed it out into the space above me. The large drop flattened out into a thin screen. It hung there, and I stepped back to watch the message play out.

Appearing on the rippling plank of water were my mother and father, standing as they always did in their iris messages to me. There was a pause once the picture had fully materialized, and then my father spoke.

"Greetings, Gods and Goddesses of Olympus. My name is Perseus Jackson, and this is my wife, Annabeth Chase—"

"—and we are contacting you from nearly ten years in the future," mother finished. Murmurs and whispers broke out amongst the gods as my father continued the message .

"The young woman standing before you today is none other than our daughter, Katrina Jackson. She is our messenger, our path to get to you and warn you of the danger that is upon us now," Dad spoke calmly, but with an appropriate amount of urgency. He continued quietly.

"The gods are being stripped of their authority, of all of their power. One by one, all things that were once controlled and run by the gods are not responding, growing still and quiet," Father's voice picked up hastily. "Each domain, each area in need of a god to give it life is pulling away. No longer does Zeus control the thunder, no longer does Poseidon conquer the seas. The sun and moon run rampant in the skies without the direction of Artemis and Apollo and the dead are free to roam as they please, ignoring Hades as if he were nothing but one of them! Please! Acknowledge the catastrophe we are in the middle of! The edges of the world as we know it are fraying."

"And yet," Mother broke in, "we are unaware of what we are dealing with. It is a fracture, of some sorts, some sort of hole that began to form years ago… ten years ago precisely." Mom stopped speaking to hold Dad's hand. "It is tearing the world apart. And that, that is all we know."

"You have to find this hole and stop its spreading," Father pleaded. "This girl, our Katrina, she is important, as you may have already noticed."

"Unfortunately, we know only slightly more than you do in that area also," Mom continued. "This is what we can tell you. The Fates have taken a particular interest in her. They came to our door the moment she was born, in the beginning of these new troubled times, and ordered us to send her back. Saying that the fate of the world was in the hands of our infant child, the Fates screamed that they would send her back in time to fix the disaster plaguing the gods and that she was necessary to their survival. We turned them away, unwilling to give up our new daughter. But, then there was a prophecy, and..."

"We had no choice," stated Dad. "Despite the sheer impossibility of time travel, the Fates were prepared and Katrina was sent back through time and space, where she would grow up in the streets of New York, and be raised by the future Gods of Olympus, though their power was slowly draining, in order to come to you today in the hope that this message that she carried would be enough to save us all."

Mother spoke again.

"We know that you are confused. Perhaps this danger has not even come to pass yet, but still it is happening and you are the last resort. We are out of options and it is with the last of our effort that we are contacting you, the almighty gods, that maybe we have given you enough time to fight back, to defeat this evil, whatever it may be. We are counting on you."

And with that, the image grew still and faded until only the transparent ripples of water remained in the air. With an instinctive wave of my hand, the water evaporated back into the air and I turned to face the gods. They looked around frantically, from me in blue glory, to Zeus, to each other and back again while their concerns grew from whispers to audible words to shouts as the group argued about the information they had just received.

"Silence!" exclaimed Zeus, clearly having none of the dissent he was hearing from his fellow gods. The others put in their final remarks as the hall quieted and peace returned to the room.

Then he addressed me.

"What are you, child? A sorceress? A magician? How do you expect me to believe that you, born of half-bloods, were sent through time, with powers comparable to the greatest heroes of Olympus and beyond? To expect this amount of trust between us, you whom I am left wondering about, and I, the King of the Gods, is unreasonable and completely impossible," Zeus stopped to contemplate. He shifted his weight in his seat and a hand was raised to stroke his beard of white curls.

"And yet, by some sort of inner force, I am most compelled to believe you."

Voices rose, some in agreement, that, yes, they felt it too, others in complete outrage.

"Quiet," Zeus commanded.

"Athena," her father addressed her, "you have felt a kindred relationship with this young lady?"

"Yes, Zeus," Athena nodded in his direction and then turned to face me with a scowl on her face.

"And Poseidon," Zeus turned to face his brother, "you have sensed this connection on your end as well? Of course, we have already seen visual proof of this."

"Yes, I have felt a relation between this child and I," Poseidon remarked while eyeing me curiously.

"Hermes." Zeus moved on.

"Yes?" the courier god responded.

"Could these small disturbances felt by the gods of wind and yourself during the past two decades be accredited to our possible future selves visiting this girl?"

"I… well… yes, it is possible. That is if time travel is indeed useable in the future," Hermes replied hesitantly.

The hall was quiet yet again, though whispers lingered from god to god in scarce amounts.

"Who among us in assembly today can provide any reason why this girl, why this message that she brings us, should not be given any weight?" Zeus requested an answer from the mass of gods.

No one spoke.

"But still, we remain unconvinced?" He inquired.

A murmur of agreement and the nodding of heads followed the statement.

"No," a quiet and raspy voice called out. The gods looked around, attempting to identify the owner of the voice. Then Hestia, who had been sitting quietly by the hearth, stood and walked forward toward the throne U. She came and took her place in the first seat on the right that had been kept empty.

"Hestia, why must you only come forth when you dissent?" Zeus acknowledged her past actions.

"It is to keep you in check, Brother," Hestia spoke calmly as she challenged Zeus. She then glanced at me and began to speak.

"There is a truth, and an unknowing innocence that this child brings with her. I can see that not even she understands the burden that her parents say she carries," Hestia remarked. "If you need more convincing, I suggest we consult the Fates. The future Percy and Annabeth stated that the Fates had taken a special interest in the child when she was born. Perhaps they could shed some light on our little mystery."

There was some hesitance, but the majority ended up agreeing with the goddess of the hearth.

"Then it is settled, the Fates shall be consulted," Zeus proclaimed.

Um, yeah that sounded good, I thought to myself. I had tried my best to pay attention to the gods' deliberation, but I was still trying to work out exactly what was wrong. I heard from before that there were problems on Mount Olympus: the gods were afraid of something. I doubt it could have been only me. Could it be that what Mom and Dad explained from the future was actually happening? Today?

Also, was I the only one concerned about the actual warning that I came to deliver? Olympus is sort of not really working out too well in the future, and we should probably fix that, right?

"Zeus, what do we do with the child? We can't just have her sit here, waiting for whenever the Fates decide to appear. You know they don't like to arrive in a timely manner," Hera chided her husband.

I knew I had my voice at the moment, but honestly, I had been scared to say anything that wasn't absolutely necessary.

"As per always, my love, you are right," Hera smacked his hand and then laughed slightly, "If there are no objections, I see no other option but for the girl to go back to Camp Half-Blood."

"But what do we tell Chiron? If we have not decided her parentage and are waiting on the word of the Fates?" Dionysis presented the pressing point that I had been wondering as well. Zeus responded.

"The accusation first presented against her being born from my brother and Athena is no longer viable in my eyes. I suggest all suspicion to be put to rest. Agreed?"

The council of gods unanimously nodded in agreement, with exceptional enthusiasm from Poseidon and Athena whose feud remained alive and well.

"Of course the more concerning option remains: that this girl, who we presume to be called Katrina Jackson, has appear to us from a time still to come with an alarming warning," Zeus narrowed his eyes at me, "I feel the conflict within me; something is pulling me both ways to trust and to approach skeptically. Until the Fates appear, we cannot conclude her case. Chiron will be told that we received new information about you, Katrina, and you will tell him that he will be informed of a decision if we see fit." He paused and widened his eyes more kindly.

"Do you understand?"

"Yes," I replied, still blue and marked. I turned around to leave, but was stopped by the voice of one of the gods.

"Wait," cried Apollo. I turned back around to face him, and the rest of the gods turned to him as well.

Stunned by the attention suddenly drawn to him, Apollo stuttered out his question.

"Well, I mean, I don't mean to, you know, seem rude," he waved his hands in the air to help get the words out, "But, um how does your whole blue thing work?"

Immediately, the blue faded from my body as I stepped forward to address him.

I sighed, and started to sign: _I don't know, I haven't figured it out. I just can't talk without it. That's all I know._

More whispers ensued, and Apollo nodded, though I'm not sure if he understood me even slightly.

"Oh, well, okay," He replied and then fidgeted in his seat.

I turned around, and, without further protest from the gods, walked passed the hearth, down the long, silent hallway, and into the burning light of the outside world. I took a step back and a hand flew up to my face, shielding my eyes from the light.


	25. Chapter 25

**Enough with the politics, time for a little action.**

 **I hope you enjoy this next chapter. I brought back an old friend who's changed a little since the last we saw her.**

 **Remember to review!**

 **Happy Reading!**

 **-c.c.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything you recognize (Riordan)**

* * *

"Oh hey," Percy said from the grass on my right. Carefully, I walked over to him and sat down.

"Must have been some message, you were in there for, like, an hour," Percy stated, ripping blades of grass from a balding spot in the ground. I nodded in agreement.

"How was dad?" He questioned.

 _He was fine. Big and godly, you know._

"What did he say?"

 _Not much._

"Not much for over an hour?" Percy looked at me with a dubious glance.

 _I did a lot of waiting._

At that moment, Percy's stomach growled angrily.

"Well, my stomach's been waiting too. I bet, if we leave now, we can make it by the end of lunch." I nodded and we both pushed up to our feet and got moving. Heading down Olympus was much quicker than heading up, but Percy still had issues. Partially because he pretty much rolled at least half way down it at one point, and I had to chase after him. But eventually we made it back to the lone elevator door wedged in the grassy hillside at the end of the road. It was a quick ride down as we hurried out the door and over to the street. Percy pulled out a drachma to hail the Chariot of Damnation… but nothing came. He tried again with another coin, but it too, wouldn't take and no one came.

Uh oh. This was good and bad. Good: The three hags were probably up with the council right about now. Bad: We could not walk ALL of the way home. Percy looked at me in exasperation and tucked the gold coin away in his pocket.

"Well, now what?"

 _We walk,_ I signed. Percy shrugged and we started walking down Fifth Avenue in the same direction we came from earlier. Not too far along, Percy's stomach made a low and long monstrous noise. He looked over at me with puppy eyes, and I knew what he was going to ask.

"Nooooooow can we go get donuts?" He placed his hands over his angry tummy and increased the intensity of his cute puppiness. I rolled my eyes.

 _Fine._

Percy's face lit up with joy.

"I know exactly where to go! I saw it on the way over," He sidled up next to me. "Aaaand it has coffee."

I smiled. Okay, I did love coffee. I was convinced and we quickened our walking until Percy pulled on my arm and pointed over the lunch crowds to a small corner coffee shop. The sign over the doorway read: **MY TWO SONS BREWERY**

Upon reading the sign, I got an anxious feeling in my gut. Something about it made me weary… but at the same time I was compelled to walk inside. Of course, that might be attributed to the promise of coffee. Percy was already inside and in line by the time I convinced myself that coffee shops don't hurt people.

"Um, how many can I have?" Percy asked me as he peered into the pastry display.

 _As many as you can afford._ I smirked in response.

"Dang it, I thought you would be nicer than Annabeth. I always have to pay for my own donuts."

As Percy decided, or rather, tried to decide on a flavor, I took notice of the rather long line that filled the small space, plenty of women of all ages getting their coffee and breakfast type foods in time for the lunch hour. I took another sweep of the room. They were all women actually. Percy seemed to be the only man in the shop. Oh, except two male baristas in the back. I almost missed them because of the red scarves around their throats. They covered the baristas' whole faces.

Percy stepped up to the woman at the register and ordered his fill of sweet goods. The woman, with her hair tied back with a bandana and workers apron on, did not smile or make any courteous motion toward Percy as she took his order and his money. She directed him harshly toward the end of the counter to wait for his order. Then I stepped up to the register.

Oh gosh, I forgot I couldn't actually tell her what I wanted. I made a stopping motion with my hands and pointed to Percy. Somehow, this woman knew exactly what I was trying to say.

"Oh, hun, no, you don't need him, I've got this." She smiled and pulled out a handheld menu from underneath the counter. It was then I saw her outrageously large rubber gloves on her hands. So, that's pretty odd. But I just smiled a thank you, and pointed out the mocha that I wanted in a small cup. I noticed that she didn't look at the menu, and instead she just stared at me.

"Um, hun, did you come with him?" She gestured toward Percy and made a skeptical glance in his direction. I looked at Percy, who stood with his hands in his pockets, impatiently waiting, and then back at the cashier. I nodded.

"Honey, you don't need him!" she laughed heartily, "Men always hold you back— see, I can tell that you are a beautiful and independent young woman. You could rule the world, love!" I smiled with half-hearted intent and signed a questioning thank you. The crazy, gloved woman continued.

"If anyone knows about that it'd be me, you know," The woman propped herself up on her elbows and leaned in. "I had a man once, boy he was trouble. Once I realized it, I went nuts. I got rid of him and felt so empowered. I opened up my own mall, can you believe that!" She snorted and laughed some more. I felt bad for everyone in line behind me, but I turned around and everyone in line had vanished. In fact, _everyone_ had vanished. Even Percy!

Okay, this was not normal. I tried to walk away, pointing to my imaginary watch to say I was late. The woman would not relent. She followed me down along the counter.

"Oh what's the rush love? There isn't anything more important than you, you know. I used to run around, trying to become big and everything too. But actually, I had lost myself. I was nothing without my two sons, who I hadn't seen in so so long, I was nothing." We had reached the edge of the counter and I began to step back when the cashier reached forward and grabbed onto my arm.

"I was nothing, until I found my Mistress," the woman smiled heinously. She had a death grip on my arm and there was no one around to see this. Until this point, I thought I had realized who this woman was, but a mistress? What mistress?

"You see, honey, I went bad. My good nature expired when I got rid of my husband. I did some bad things," she said looking at me intently, "as all women do. But I met my Mistress and she fulfilled me. She set me straight, she gave me my sons back." The woman looked down at her gloves. "Not without a price of course."

I attempted to pull away again. Instead, the woman wrenched me closer to where she was able to whisper to me.

"Do yourself a favor, hun." She looked me dead in the eyes. "Go to her before you make the mistakes I did."

Alright, I thought to myself, I would start 'not making your mistakes' by keeping my men with me. In one swift movement, I knocked my head into her temple with full force, knocking the woman back with a screech. I ripped myself from her weakened grasp and darted into the back of the shop, where the baked goods were made. I had a hunch Percy would be where the donuts were… not by any coincidence I'm sure. I pushed through the swinging double doors to see Percy lying in the center of the room, tied up with rope… and blissfully eating donuts from off of the floor.

The cashier pushed open the doors in close pursuit. I opened _Riptide II_ and sliced Percy's ropes, startling him as if he hadn't yet noticed I was there. I turned around to see the lady fumbling around in a desk drawer by the doors.

"Ah! Curse these gloves!" She said this and ripped them off violently. I could now see her hands dripping and stained with what I took to be blood. She grabbed a long knife from the drawer. Things were starting to fall into place.

"Woah, what in Hades?!" Percy screamed when he saw the woman's hands.

"Haha, you mean these?" She wiggled her crimson talons at Percy. "Well Mistress wasn't going to give me my boys back without a little something to remind me of why I lost them in the first place." She walked towards us slowly.

Percy turned to me.

"Wait, is that—"

My voice returned in a quick blue frenzy of light.

"—Medea," I affirmed with a sneer.

"Oooh, Mistress was right, you are very pretty when you're cross," She snickered and then became serious. "The Mistress will see you no matter what, but for my own sake I can't let this man be hanging around you any longer, he'll taint you!"

"Wait! What mistress? What's going on?" Percy cried as we stepped back onto half eaten donuts and away from Medea the coffee shop owner.

"Oh, boys! Mommy could use a little help in here!" Medea screamed out to her children. The male baristas in their red scarves came out from the front of the shop and flanked their mother holding short swords. Percy and I took a final step back, and I heard a clang as my foot hit a metal bucket. I looked over to Percy and he nodded.

Medea came running at us with a scream and at the last second I picked up the bucket, jammed it onto the witch's head and kicked her in the chest hard enough to send her flying through the bakery doors. Without wasting a second, Percy took the son to the right, and I ducked a blow from the son on the left. I rolled under the man, coming up behind him to begin choking him with his own scarf. The man blindly stabbed in the area behind him trying to hit me, but I held on. I twisted the scarf to tighten the hold, but as the son was giving up, the scarf ripped and he fell hard on his knees.

With the scarf gone, I could see the monster's head, barely attached and still profusely bleeding by a large gash that separated his head from the rest of his body. My stomach mutinied at the idea: This was the second part of Medea's punishment, remembering what she had done to kill her sons.

Without a second thought, I plunged my sword down through the back of the son's neck and through his torso. Pulling the blade out, his body fell to the floor in a pool of blood. I looked over at Percy and the right son suffered a similar fate to his brother. We were just about to run out of the shop when Medea burst through the bakery doors and began to sing.

"No, stop her!" I shouted at Percy, but he was already weakened by the sound of Medea's song. The witch had her eyes closed in concentration, lucky for us she hadn't yet seen her two sons lying dead once more on the floor. I had to think fast.

That's when my eyes landed on the donuts that littered the tile where Percy had been tied up.

Percy started to put away his sword and walk towards Medea. I hurried with an armful of pastries around to her backside. Swiftly, I shoved the first donut down Medea's open throat as far as it could go. The song stopped and Medea gagged violently, shooting her eyes open in the process. She attempted to spit the donuts out, but I pushed more and more of the desserts into her mouth. Medea was forced to chew and swallow them; however, she wasn't fast enough. Percy soon recovered from the sleeping spell and came to my aid, holding Medea's hands as we fed her as many donuts as we could.

And, uh, I guess there was something in the donuts. Cause after that, Medea wasn't really mentally there anymore. The witch lost her balance and Percy and I caught her.

"Uh, Katrina, what are we going to do with her," Percy asked in a whisper.

"Gosh these are soooooo goooood," Medea loudly interjected.

"I have a plan, let's get her out front," I whispered over to Percy. Together, we drug Medea behind the counter.

"Who maaade these—" I shoved another donut in Medea's pie hole as Percy opened the hood to the pastry cabinet.

"Okay, now push on three. One, Two, Three!" Medea was a little heavier than we thought, but we got her in the cabinet the first go around. I shoved the last of the donuts in her mouth before shutting her in the display.

"Now let's get out of here!" I whispered to Percy. He needed no convincing and we bolted out of the shop, and back down Fifth Avenue.


	26. Chapter 26

ANOTHER!

Here's chapter 26, I hope you enjoyed the pick up in pace of the story. It will slow down again a bit, but after that it's smooth, action-filled sailing from there.

And thank you to those of you who are reviewing. I check the story a few times a day to see if there are any new ones and when I see them it makes my day.

Happy Reading!

-c.c

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything you recognize (Riordan)

* * *

My blue tattoos disappeared conveniently as we exited the bakery. Percy and I ran side by side.

"What the hell was that?" Percy screamed in huffing breaths. I shook my head, I didn't know.

"The Mistress? Who even is that? And what did she want with you?" We slowed to a stop at the next intersection. I pointed left and we ran down the next street a ways before seeing a bus stop. I jogged to a rest and looked at the sign. It was 12:33. We had just missed the 12:30, but another one was coming at 12:45. I motioned for Percy to sit down on the bench.

 _Percy, I know just as much as you do right now._

We both sat there taking in long breaths.

"Well damn," Percy sighed. "Medea running a coffee shop. Piper will die when she hears about this." I laughed silently in agreement. I remember her telling her story when she defeated Medea in that old mall. She seemed to have a better grasp on her magic back then. Percy stood up to look at the bus route.

"Hey, where do you want to get off? M11?" Percy asked, and I got up to join him at the map.

 _No we need to get off at M7,_ I told him

"M7? That's almost back into the city?" He retorted.

 _Hey, trust me. I know a shortcut._

"Hm, okay whatever," Percy gave in and he peered around me to see the bus rolling in from down the street.

 _I've got the toll since I'm assuming you spent all of your money on donuts,_ I stated and Percy rolled his eyes, then shrugged and nodded. We got on quickly and found seats in the very back, even though there was barely anyone on the bus. I glanced around the empty seats as the big bus jerked into motion, a bus that wasn't crowded was super odd for this time of day. Still, it was sort of nice being away from the bustle of people. It would take a while to get to our stop, so I leaned my head back in the seat and shut my eyes.

"Nice day out isn't it?" a sweet, old voice whispered from behind me. I opened my eyes as the vehicle jerked into motion and swiveled in my seat to peer over the edge of the bus seat. My gaze was graced with the view of a small, older woman, maybe in her eighties, shrouded in a shawl and holding a tiny paperback book. I smiled at the woman, who stared back at me easily, and nodded.

At the back of my mind, I recalled seeing the seat the woman occupied empty when Percy and I sat down. I turned to glance at Percy, but he was quietly humming and completely oblivious to my conversation with this elderly woman.

"Deary," the woman addressed me and I faced her once again, "what's your name, love?"

I thought about it and decided on pointing to my throat and then shaking my head no.

"What was that, deary? I can't hear as well as I used to."

Same goes for your eyesight, I thought to myself. I repeated the action in an exaggerated manner until she cried forth in realization.

"Oh dear! No voice, child? What a pity, I bet you have quite a few wonderful things to say."

That's the second time someone has told me that. I smiled a sympathetic grin and began to turn around when she spoke again.

"You know what, love, I know someone who might be able to help you with that little issue of yours." I whipped my head around to see the tiny woman's eyes narrow and smile widen at the edges. "Aha, I see _your_ hearing isn't lacking in the slightest." My eyebrows furrowed and my eyes gave away the desire to hear more, though I tried to ignore it.

"This woman I know, ah, she is remarkable. A miracle worker, I swear. I've been with her to see emotional distress be relieved, power be restored and granted," she stopped for a moment to unclasp the purple abstract broach that secured her shawl. She ran her hands behind the undone cloth and produced a small business card. The woman caught my attention in her soft blue eyes, and I reached forward to take the card

"I've even seen her bring men back to life," she whispered in admiration. My hand stopped short as my fingers grazed the the edge of the piece of paper. My eyes darkened. This sounded like magic, dark magic, and I didn't want to get into that. I began to pull my hand back when the woman surprised me by latching on to my receding fingers and pushing the card into them.

"Don't dismiss her yet, deary," her demeanor changed from soft to urgent and desperate. "She has done great things for me, child, and she will do the same for you."

I looked at her for a moment with confusion and distrust. As I tilted my head to look down at the card, she spoke again.

"I think we've arrived at your stop."

At the same moment, Percy tapped me on the arm and motioned to come on. I got out of my seat in pursuit. I turned back to give one last glance at the strange old lady, just to see that the seat she had occupied was empty. But I had little time to contemplate the oddity as I felt Percy wrap his fingers around my arm and practically yank me off the bus. Suddenly, we were at the bus stop for Kischner Park. All of the people who were exiting the bus with us were parents with their children, hoping for some fun at the park. Percy turned to address me.

"So, what now Miss Shortcut?"

 _Come on._ I responded and began to walk straight through the park. Although most folks never venture too far from the road, Kischner opens up into a slight forest toward the back of the park. We came upon the thickening of trees and I walked in unphased. Percy, on the other hand, was looking every which way trying to figure out where he was. I pulled him aside and grabbed his attention.

 _The day I came to camp I was cornered by a griffon and a harpy in an ally a few blocks from here. I darted in between buildings, trying to lose them before I would have to bring them out into the crowds, but they weren't thrown off in the least._ I ducked under the branches of a low bough, which Percy didn't see. It came back to whack him in the face. _I decided to bring them into the forest, away from people and right as we entered a telkhine showed up. We raced through here to the edge. That's when I almost ran straight into the Minotaur._

"Oh gosh, no wonder you collapsed. Fighting all of that at once!" Percy added.

 _Yeah,_ I agreed _. But just beyond the edge of this wood, lucky for me, was a large grassy field. And I mean huge. It's sloped at the end and leads right up to the east side of Half-Blood Hill._

"Oh cool. Yeah that sounds way easier than going around the edge of town to get to the road."

 _Well, maybe not easier. It's a little ways to walk opposed to riding in a bus, but it works._ I brushed aside the last hanging branch and wading through the rest of the leafy bushes into the tall grassy clearing.

Memories flashed in my mind of being chased by monsters, giving my everything just to make it to the top of the hill. I was walking through that same field, but this time with my father, one of my friends, and I wasn't as worried about my future. I had done what I came here to do. I warned the gods and now the future was out of my hands.

"Hey," Percy started, "What's that?" He gestured to my right hand. I looked down and noticed the business card that the old woman on the bus had given me.

 _Oh,_ I replied, _I actually don't know. Some woman on the bus gave it to me._

I uncurled my fingers and smoothed out the edges of the card. Upon seeing the name written in cursive on the front, I shoved the paper into Percy's hand.

"The Mistress? You've got to be kidding me. Do you think this might be who Medea was talking about back in the bakery?" Percy asked slightly agitated.

A frown had settled on my face and I shrugged. That woman couldn't have just been some elderly lady. I had a bad feeling about all of this.

"Look," Percy pointed to the bottom of the card. "Whoever this person is, their office is in the Empire State Building."

Okay, this can't be coincidence.

"'Sub Floor 3, B5' They have subfloors there?"

 _No that's not right. I've been there so many times and I've never seen any listed sub floors,_ I interjected.

"I'd say this is pretty fishy," Percy said, handing the card back over to me.

 _Anything else on it? Profession? Phone number?_ I flipped the card over

"Not that I saw," Percy retorted.

 _Wait,_ I said. I began tilting the card back and forth in the afternoon sunlight. I thought I caught a glimmer, some kind of shimmering figure.

Suddenly, I caught it.

 **TAKE THE LAST REMAINING STAIRCASE**

' _Take the last remaining staircase'? What in Hades does that mean?_

"Hey, that's sort of cool," Percy remarked, eyeing the magically appearing letters. "But you're right that sort of doesn't help. Aren't there, like, a ton of stairs in that place?"

 _Well, yeah, but you know most people take the elevators._

"Hm," Percy pondered the idea as I shoved the card in my shorts pocket, "Curiouser and curiouser." I looked at him skeptically.

 _You don't even know what that's from._

Percy shrugged, "Nope, but it sounded cool. And it fits anyway."

At that moment we had reached the slope of Half-Blood Hill and began the climb. Percy, of course, made a huge deal about how many hills he's had to climb today and that he was super hungry and tired and how he wanted a nap or a swim and something else but I had learned to tune him out pretty well by that point.

I reached the tree first, since Percy stopped to complain so many times. I noticed the spot where I had hit the tree in frustration, but there was nothing there to mark the occasion. I sighed. So much had happened since then; a lot had changed. I was a different person then, I thought to myself, and now I'm done.

I smiled. I think I'm finally done.

I turned around to the sounds of a huffing and puffing Percy.

"UGH! I need fuel! Katrina, you need to supply your protectors with more benefits!" He shouted exasperatedly.

 _Percy, why would I pay a protector when I can protect myself?_ He stopped huffing and puffing to think.

"Good point," he went back to shouting and whining. "WHY DID I EVEN COME, UGH!"

I just smiled and drug him to the dining pavilion. Unfortunately, lunch was done and cleaned up already, so I took him back to the cabin and took out some chips from a cupboard and sodas from the mini fridge.

He sat on the bed, cracked open the can, and took a nice long sip (pretty much chug) of the soda.

"Ahh, that's more like it," He purred.

I smirked and took a few chips from the bag.

 _Hey, I'm going to go let Chiron know we're back._

Percy nodded with his face full of food and gave me a thumbs up.

I walked out the door and across the yard to the Big House. I was right in assuming that Chiron would be in the same place that I had left him, sitting at his desk writing in some nameless journal about some unknown idea. I knocked on the wooden door frame and the old centaur's eyes lifted from the pages on the desk. He smiled

"Back I see, take a seat dear and tell me all about it."

I returned his smile and sat across from him, picking up my whiteboard and marker that I had left there this morning.

 **They have a lot to discuss still, but I told them what I knew. They decided that it was impossible for me to be the daughter of Poseidon and Athena together and are dubious that I am the daughter of either individually.**

A confused frown formed on Chiron's lips.

"And they did not give you an answer?"

 **I am still inconclusive.**

"Well," Chiron continued, folding his hands, "this is less than I had hoped." He wheeled backwards and around the desk to my side. "But the gods are satisfied?"

 **I believe they are.** I tried to reassure him as much as I could. My job was done, there wasn't any need to go back to the gods.

He smiled and then gave me a quick pat on my shoulder.

"I'm sorry that you still don't have an answer, Katrina, but I'm sure we will find it someday."

I smiled back sincerely.

 **Really, Chiron, I'm okay how I am. Even without knowing the whole truth.**

He read my words and nodded.

"We will someday, I promise." And with that Chiron left me alone in the study.

A frown slowly replaced the smile that was spread across my face.

Come on. I was done. This was it. Once the gods did something to stop the evil, I'd go home, or maybe stay here. Either way, I would live my demigod life out in peace.

Why did things feel so wrong?

I looked down at my whiteboard and pen. My whole life had been leading up to this point. I felt purposeless? Yes, maybe that was it. What now?

Annabeth. I needed to go beat on Annabeth. I smiled and got up, brandishing Riptide II.


	27. Chapter 27

Hope you were itching for a little bit of relationship drama.

How do you guys feel about the Dad aspect of Percy? Not his future self, mind you, but the protectiveness he feels over Katrina right now. Do you think he's being irrational?

HAPPY HAPPY READING!

-c.c.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything you recognize (Riordan)

* * *

I sat down with Percy the other day and forced him to help me mend up Annabeth. It definitely wasn't like new, it was almost completely held together with threads and stitches, but it was still Annabeth. I set him up on a dummy stand and went to town. I know I just got through a bit of combat, but I was itching for more. I worked and trained until my nervous energy had dissipated as much as it possibly could.

Somehow, Annabeth had a special way of calming me down.

I had higher spirits as I put a slightly beat up Annabeth into the weapons shed and walked over to the dining pavilion around dinner time. Leo met me in line and we filled our plates high with nachos and guacamole while laughing about something stupid he did in the hanger earlier in the day. I made sure to grab some rice and beans, half of which went to the fire in sacrifice to all of the gods in the hope that they will make the right decisions about the end of the world and all of that stuff. One-by-one everyone made it to the table. Things were bright and everyone was laughing, but I sat there with a fake smile as the dread and worry came slowly crawling back.

"So where'd you guys have to go for Chiron this morning?" Piper excitedly addressed Percy and I.

"Oh, Chiron needed some kind of message brought back from the gods and I guess Poseidon asked for Katrina could come so that they could meet in person," Percy recalled, "And I just went for translation purposes."

Annabeth took a large bite out of her nacho mountain and proceeded to engage in conversation.

"So, I know you can't share the message or anything, but what about seeing Poseidon? How did that all go?"

 _It was fine, sort of intimidating cause he's huge you know, but fine._ I signed in response.

"You sure? You haven't acted super with-it since you got back. Did something happen?" Jason asked sincerely.

I threw on a bigger smile.

 _No, no. I'm good. I guess it's hard coming to accept that he was there the whole time I was growing up and he never came to see me or sent someone to take care of me._ I looked down at my food, hoping that this story was enough to cover up my paranoia that I was dealing with. _You build up a lot of anger over the years, like that. It will just take a little while longer to die down I think._

"Yeah don't worry about speeding up the process," Annabeth said comfortingly, "I'm pretty sure most demigods have that kind of experience. It will get better with time, just let it run its course."

I smiled a thank you grin and the conversations carried on this way and that. Like Jason said, I just wasn't with-it. My mind was on the gods, the fates, and most of all The Mistress. I put my hand in my pocket and felt the edge of the scrunched up paper card. Too many things had lined up to overlook it. Two people in one day recommending her to me, one of them being Medea, a legendary greek argonaut. The older lady had to be important too. And the business card with the subfloor address and secret-type message on the back.

I shook my head trying to fling the thoughts out of my mind. I was thinking too much. They probably didn't matter in the slightest. Besides, the gods had the information from the future now. They would stop the spread. It wasn't my problem anymore.

The days passed and it was like nothing had happened. Things moved along as normal, except for the tension I felt coursing through my body. Nothing I did could take my mind off of the gods, The Mistress, or the end of the world. I know that if I told anyone, they would call me crazy, but I could feel that they were connected.

I know, stupid right?

I guess I did find some escape, though. Will was teaching me tricks to improve my archery skills. He was so adept at it, I felt like a fool next to him. But as always, he was encouraging and helped me to see the bright side in it all. He was my Will, just like Nico had his. I was growing closer to him every day and loving every second of it. Even when he was too busy to talk, I was allowed by Apollo cabin mates to sit in the infirmary and watch him work. Hearing how he acted around his patients always made me sigh with happiness. He was proficient and precise and perfectly adorable in every way.

And the whole camp pretty much knew that I was head over heels for him, so it was almost never awkward.

Except when Percy was there.

I swear, paternal instincts have no boundaries, not even time can stop it. If my mind was super caught up in the tense worry I had one day, I would go to spend the whole day with Will or at least around him to help clear my head. And every night I could expect Percy to be waiting at the cabin door before bed to meet me there and ask where I was and what I was doing. He knew I was with Will though, and that was the issue.

It wasn't that he didn't like Will or anything like that. They were fairly good friends when I wasn't around. But more often than not, when I would join them, Percy would completely change his demeanor. It was strange and did nothing to help my stress levels. Thinking about the Mistress and trying to figure out why I felt the world was still completely doomed was enough, I didn't need to be worried about Percy being my dad.

Soon enough though, I couldn't think of anything else. I jumped at every sudden movement, thinking about Medea and her sons. I had convinced myself that the men brought back to life that the old woman mentioned were the sons of Medea. I couldn't focus on conversation, people were constantly trying to get me to snap out of whatever crazy spell I was under. Once I didn't pay attention to where I was going and ended up in the strawberry fields when I meant to go to the archery range. Will was pretty much my safe haven. I was more relaxed when I knew he was there and his smiles made my guard melt down a little.

Still, I didn't share my troubles with anyone, not even Will. All of my friends knew something was up though. Annabeth was especially keen into noticing when I was upset, and she suggested, about a week or two after Percy and I had gone to Olympus, that Will and I join her and Percy for a picnic lunch on the beach. Will immediately took to the idea.

Percy did not.

We were in charge of finding a nice blanket while Will and Annabeth made food. He was clearly annoyed and we both knew why. So finally, I asked him about it.

 _Percy, what's wrong? You aren't very talkative this morning._

He shrugged and bent down to look in a drawer. I tried to tell him we could use my bed comforter, but he said he had a real picnic blanket and that comforters are not picnic blankets. I bent down next to him to help him look.

 _Percy, come on. I know you are fine with Will when you two are alone. If you have a problem with me being there then tell me._ I said, breaking the ice a little less gently than I meant to.

"Stop, Katrina, okay? I don't have a problem with you," muttered coldly. He reached forward to the back of the drawer and felt around.

 _What's your problem then?_ I reached over to grasp Percy by the shoulder. _Percy, I know you, you shouldn't have to hide anything from me like this._

He sighed and looked down for a second and then back up at me.

"I know, and I'm sorry that I'm like this when you two are together." He sounded earnest and real. "I don't know what's wrong with me, I mean, I have actually thought about this and there is literally no reason to be upset," He reached back into the drawer and pulled out a stereotypical, checkered picnic blanket. "I just can't figure it out."

 _It's okay._ I stood up and took the blanket from him and folded it. I lied just to keep him calm. _I don't understand it either._

Percy sighed and walked over to his bed to sit down. He dropped his head into his hands and I went over to sit next to him. I put a hand on his thigh to get his attention.

 _Let's just try and make today a good day, okay?_ I ended my thought with a smile, replacing my hand on his thigh for emotional support.

He looked up at me and smirked sadly.

"Okay, okay," He looked forward and ran a hand through his hair. "I will try and behave just for today."

I smacked him on the back as a bro-type thank you and we both laughed. I got up and wrapped my arms around the picnic blanket and grabbed my whiteboard and pen.

 _Come on, kid, let's not keep them waiting._

Percy stood up, opened the door, and walked side-by-side with me over to the dining pavilion where Annabeth and Will were waiting with a full picnic basket. We parted to our respective pair and Percy gave me a wary look as I began to make small talk with Will. I sent a small smile his way and he returned it and turned to plant a kiss on Annabeth's cheek.

"Alright," Annabeth called Will and I over to the table, "Percy and I have a special spot, but we aren't willing to share it with you—" The couple stopped to join pinky fingers and make a zipper motion across their lips, "—so we are going down to the dock to eat lunch so we don't have sand all up in our pants."

I nodded and Will resounded with a 'sounds good'.

"Perfect!" Annabeth happily latched onto Percy's hand and drug him out of the pavilion. Will took the picnic basket and grabbed the picnic blanket from my arms, leaving me with just my white board as we walked behind the happy couple.

"This'll be nice, don't you think so?" Will asked as he stepped onto the plush grass. I nodded in response and began writing on my board.

 **How was target practice this morning?**

"It was alright," Will shrugged it off. "Wasn't my best morning but it was good enough for today." He had been trying to break some of the Apollo cabin records for archery. He was good, but not as good as some of those who had set the records. Will had begun to dedicate his early mornings to working on his bow and arrow skills to see how close he could get.

 **And how about the infirmary last night?**

"Oh we had that big midnight chariot race and Jasmine from Demeter flew off and got trampled. We had to take her in and treat her for a concussion and severe bruising."

 **Uh, bruising? Does that even count?**

He looked at me like I wasn't even capable of understanding.

"If you go and ask to look her right side, you will believe that it counts." I looked at him perplexed.

"I mean, that poor girl is completely black and blue ALL over," I started to laugh at the thought of Jasmine being entirely purple with bruises. I went to write out something else, but shook my head as I decided against it and scoffed again. I looked up and saw Percy peeking glances at us from in front. Giving a silent glare, he turned around and proceeded to engage in listening to Annabeth.

Soon enough we arrived at the dock. Will came up and spread the blanket out on the splintery surface. I took a seat next to him as Annabeth unloaded the containers of peanut butter jelly sandwiches, fresh strawberries, and chocolate pudding made from scratch. Of course, it wouldn't be a Percy and Annabeth picnic without some aquamarine jello with tiny swedish fish set in it. Percy sat down in between Annabeth and I, but he tried his best to keep a safe distance away, and he smiled at me as he got comfortable. I returned it and was happy to see him trying for me.

It was as pleasant as I had expected it to be. Will and Annabeth had a wonderful conversation about anything and everything, Percy and I interjecting at some moments, but mostly nodding and laughing. It was hard for me to be super involved in conversation since I had to write out what wanted to say. Percy wasn't talking much; I could tell he was really trying to keep his cool. Throughout the meal I would catch him staring hatefully over towards Will or watching Will and my hands, seeing if they were touching as they were positioned closely on the blanket. I wanted to grab Will's hand just to see what Percy would do. He was trying, I know; he was in the wrong still. Will may not appreciate me grabbing his hand, but I was spiteful.

Fortunately, to my knowledge, both Annabeth and Will were delightfully unaware of Percy and his problem with Will and me. They just continued to talk and talk and talk until eventually Percy fell asleep on Annabeth's lap, eliminating the 'dad threat' for the time being. However, it wasn't too long before Annabeth realized that the date was coming to an end and she woke Percy up from his picnic nap. I was relieved to finally be standing up and ending this date. It was nice, but gave me anxiety and I was happy to be heading back to camp.

Annabeth took the picnic basket and Percy folded up the blanket and they led the way back hand in hand. I walked next to Will with my board and marker in tow, and I just smiled, happy to be closer to him once again. We walked in silence, which I appreciated because I had too much on my mind still, but it was comfortable and calm.

Then I felt Will's fingers brush against mine as we walked. I was a little surprised as well. You know, Will and I never discussed our friend-relationship or what is was. I didn't know for sure if I meant anything to him. Maybe in his head I was nothing? Or perhaps in his mind we were already dating? I had no clue, but this brushing of fingers made me giddy and breathless and perhaps hopelessly optimistic. He looked over to me and smile, I smiled back and leaned my head against his shoulder for a slight second. Will Holmes looked down and smiled as I felt his fingers press against my palm and glide down to weave themselves between my own. I was electric, the presence of his hand in mine sent currents of 'holy hades I'm holding his hand' all over my body and my smile responded by widening and opening slightly like I was in awe.

Because I was.

Insert every gidding book scene of the girl actually getting the guy that she never thought she would here because it was happening and I felt everything all at once.

I had been staring into Will's eyes until the sound of Percy's voice ruined the everything that I had been feeling.

"Woah woah woah," Percy started off as I saw him go from peeking over his shoulder at us and then leaving Annabeth completely to confront Will and I.

"Percy, what the—" Annabeth wasn't quite sure what was happening, but I knew exactly what was going on.

"Will, what exactly is going on between you two?" Percy addressed him and stood in front of us with his arms folded. Will, of course, was not sure if Percy was serious.

"Um," Will started, dropping my hand to scratch the back of his head. "Well, we just finished going on a date, you know, with you and Annabeth," then he paused to look over at me. "I mean, I just thought it would be nice to hold her hand on the way back, and—"

"And what kind of position are you in where you thought you'd have permission to do that?" Percy challenged him forcefully pushing a hand into Will's shoulder so that he stumbled a bit farther away from me.

"Permission?!" Will came back angry, "You think I needed your permission to be with Katrina?!"

I just stood there with mouth ajar and emotion slowly building.

"Percy!" Annabeth yelled and came over and pulled his arm back. "What in hades is the matter with you!?" Percy turned to Annabeth and screamed back to her.

"What? I'm trying to keep Katrina safe! You should be helping me not stopping me!"

"You think I'd hurt her?!" Will retorted, "And you're not the only one who was asked to help protect her I was too and—"

At that moment I stepped forward, kicking Will in the stomach and knocking Percy's feet from under him. He was sent sprawling onto the ground and I straddled him, forcing his flailing hands over his head and into the hot sand. Then I leaned over him:

 _STOP IT! I don't need you monitoring every aspect of my life and I don't need you to beat up my boyfriend to 'keep me safe'. BULLSHIT._

I got up off of the wide-eyed boy and brushed the sand off of my hands. Annabeth stood off to the side with one hand over her mouth and the other on her hip. I could feel Will stand up behind me.

 _I make my own decisions, and you better respect that. Don't touch him again, Percy._

I needed to go and release some of my anger in a non-violent way, even though a lot of it was spent on what just happened. As I walked I heard Will ask if I had just called him my boyfriend followed by the sounds of Annabeth screaming at and beating the crap out of Percy.

I was tempted to look back, but until I could rant to Nico about this, writing was my next course of action. I walked into Poseidon's cabin, grabbed my notebook and pen, and shut myself in the bathroom until dinner.


	28. Chapter 28

It's almost adventure time, boys and girls. I can't wait to share this next part of the story with you.

AAHHH I can't wait.

And leave a review!

Happy Reading!

-c.c.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything you recognize (Riordan)

* * *

It wasn't too long before Percy came into Poseidon and began knocking on the door to the bathroom. He begged and pleaded with me to open the door so we could talk, but I was stubborn just like my father. I was on a roll anyway. Nico had taught me a little bit about poetry and I'd been practicing. I definitely emulated Nico's prior works in my own, but it was just too beautiful not to think about. I wrote a little about how I felt but it slowly morphed into a rhythm of things I loved. Like reading and words and the water and sword fighting. Believe me, it works together better than you'd think it would.

I heard the bell ring for dinner in the distance and I finished my last thought and shut my book. I attempted to open the door to the bathroom, but it didn't open very far. I heard shuffling and then the door opened with Percy standing over the threshold. I looked at him, expecting something snotty.

Instead, he signed: " _I'm sorry."_

I set my notebook on the bathroom counter.

 _Please, no more, Percy._

He signed back: " _No more, Katrina."_

 _I forgive you._

I picked up my notebook and pen in one hand and reached to take Percy's in the other. I walked with him to my bed and laid my notebook in my small box of collectives, then we walked out the door and onto the courtyard toward the pavilion. We talked some about what was for dinner and our plans afterward, and before we reached the mass of campers Percy pulled me into exaggerated side hug and I laughed and pushed him off playfully.

Things would be okay, I hoped.

I saw Will walking towards us and I looked toward Percy and smiled. He smiled back sadly and stepped back, showing me the sincerity of his promise earlier. I saw him mouth 'no more' as I walked away from him and over to Will, taking his hand. Will and I went through the line first, because Percy was waiting for Annabeth.

"Well," Will began, scratching the back of his head, "do we want to talk about earlier today?" I looked up at him and shrugged, then shook my head.

"No?" Will said, moving in front to stand in my way. "Wait? Am I in trouble?"

I gave him a sympathetic look.

" _No, Will."_

An embarrassed smile flashed across Will's face as he stepped to the side of me.

"Oh okay good," I chuckled and walked passed him.

"We can talk about it later, then?"

I shrugged and mouthed, " _Sure."_

We went over to the group table, I was please that Will was willing to leave the Apollo table for today, and sat down. I was doing okay, I really was. But the more people that gathered at the table, the more anxious I became. The chatter droned on and my thoughts flooded with the questions I had been battling since returning from New York.

We stood up to dump trash, when Leo reminded us that we had a bonfire tonight. This was music to my ears. Distraction, happiness, songs and laughter. That sounded really good at the moment.

But as soon as Percy and I turned to walk back to Poseidon, I had an awful feeling in my gut that things were about to not be so good, that something bad was about to happen.

I broke away from Percy halfway to the cabin, telling him I forgot to get my whiteboard back Will this afternoon. But I didn't bother with that and instead I went to the practice ring. I had about an hour before the fire and I was confused.

So I set Annabeth up on a pedestal and made a mental note to take him in for repairs after tonight. I uncapped Riptide II and went to town. Annabeth didn't put up much of a fight. Sometimes he would try escaping or running off of the pedestal. Once, all of his guts spilled out and he thought it would stop me. Let me just tell you, he was mistaken.

But that night he was kind to me, he let me slash and slash and think. I wasn't done. I wasn't, I had known it since we came back. I had the feeling I had to do something else. There was a reason I was still here and not home with mom and dad I knew it. But what else is there? I round kicked over Annabeth's head to distract him. I can't possibly have any more influence over what's happening with this hole, right? Isn't this a figurative hole? I parried and circled around Annabeth's stick. I can't even see figurative holes so that's no good.

Once I was behind the post, I took the opportunity and snuck in a side attack from behind, piercing Annabeth's guinea sack surface and letting the straw spill out over the dirt floor.

I took a step back to evaluate my work. With a deep breath, I realized that nothing I could think of would ever fully prepare me for what might be in store for me. I flicked Riptide II back into feather form and put it away. The tension remained, and I was uneasy. But the gong sounded in the distance and it was time to gather together in front of the blaze.

Reluctantly, I bent down and gathered the straw from Annabeth's insides. I felt the presence of campers walking behind me as I plucked Annabeth's limp body off of the pole and strode into the weapons shack.

"Katrina?"

I heard Will's voice from the outside. I shoved Annabeth in the back corner and walked out to meet him.

He smiled as I approached.

"I figured you might be here," he handed me my whiteboard and pen which I never bothered to pick up.

I smiled back and shrugged. He put his arm around my shoulder and walked me passed the dining pavilion. Leo came up behind me and attempted to tickle my sides, but I'm not really ticklish so he was pretty disappointed. Calypso cocked him over the head from behind and we all laughed. Together we walked to the blazing fire and I was hopeful that the night would be pleasant.

"Hey! It looks like the fun started without us," Leo interjected, pointing over to a large crowd beyond the fire.

A small frown started across my face and Will could feel my unease.

"Leo, that doesn't look like fun to me," Will spoke, Leo's eyes narrowed and the four of us wordlessly picked up our paces. Eerie shadows cast in the darkness by the flames danced among the crowd gathered. Those on the outsides of the mass whispered to each other and I caught snippets of conversation as Will and I broke through the line of people.

 _I hope she's alright._

 _What's happening to her?_

 _This isn't normal, guys._

The voices grew still as we neared the middle of the pack, campers staring towards the center, looking over each other's shoulders in a worried silence.

"I see Chiron," Will whispered to me as we pushed ever farther into the mess of limbs and bodies.

Soon enough, I could hear a muffled cry. It sounded strained. Someone else was standing near, trying to get the victim to breathe.

I could see slightly over shoulders, standing back about three rows in, that it was Rachel who was in pain. She rolled and writhed on the ground, fighting the urge to clench her head and her stomach at the same time. Her eyes were sealed shut and her cheeks were stained with tears, most likely from whatever pain she was in. Annabeth was kneeling over her, trying to hold her still and whisper soft encouragements. Percy stood a short distance away keeping everyone from getting too close.

"Has anyone seen Will yet?" Chiron shouted into the crowd of whispers. I latched onto to Will's hand as he responded and began making his way through the rest of the crowd. We moved easily now, with campers getting out of our way knowing that Will was finally here to help.

But everything changed within a moments notice.

Will let go of me to run ahead to meet Rachel and Annabeth, but I continued to push myself through the gap that had since closed. I had reached the final ring of campers and took the last step into the inside of the circle.

Rachel's body shot up into a sitting position and her head whipped around to face my direction. The crowd began to move restlessly in reaction to the surprise and I wasn't sure what to do.

Rachel's eyes were pitch black and when she opened her mouth a dark grey and black smoke fell from her parted lips. Suddenly, she spoke and her words thundered across the campgrounds in a wheezy, cough-afflicted voice that was not her own.

" _ **See the pawn of creation return**_ ," Annabeth, Will, Percy and Chiron backed away as she rose to stand.

" _ **Watch the doors of Olympus then burn**_ ," She walked in a broken and crippled way towards our side of the circle.

" _ **One by one those who enter will fade**_ ," the campers around me stepped back and my whiteboard and pen fell from my fingertips, " _ **Until only the chosen remain**_."

" _ **When the sun goes down breathing its last**_ ," Rachel slowed her pace and approached me dead on. She stopped less than a foot away from me. I tried not to look at her face that was clearly not under her own control. I stared past her, to Will and Percy and Annabeth, who stood watching, horrified.

Rachel reached her arms out and took a hold of my head, bringing it so her lips brushed my right ear.

" _ **Rival's Daughter will rewrite their past**_ **.** " My eyes grew wide as those words echoed around the camp and I had barely a chance to grasp what had occurred when I felt Rachel's grip loosen and quickly caught her before she fainted.

I looked around me. I had become the center of the circle, with Chiron and Percy even pressed to the edge of the ring. I knelt on the ground in the dissipating smoke with Rachel in my arms for what seemed like an eternity until she fluttered her eyelids open and tried to sit up, asking about what had happened. The camp was quiet.

Percy stepped forward, keeping his distance still, and asked:

"Katrina… what just happened?"

I signed back to him the exact words I was thinking:

 _I think it was a quest._

"What?" He responded, "No, no the quests come with the green smoke and not—"

 _Percy, I know how they come._ I rose to stand and walk closer to him.

"But what the hell? Why was it black? What's going on?" Then my life flashed up in aqua-marine light

"I don't know, Percy, but you can't deny it was for me and now I have to figure it out!"

This was the first that the camp heard from my side about what was happening, and boy did all hell break loose. I did have an idea of what had happened, but it was only because of the things I knew that they didn't. Even if I told them what I thought had just happened, they wouldn't have sat still or kept quiet long enough to hear it. Everyone erupted, questions, comments, whispers that developed into screams and poor Rachel who just crawled quietly behind Annabeth for protection. Percy and I just stared into the mass, trying to figure out who was saying what. Chiron trotted toward us, shouting at us to see him in his office immediately.

That was when the sprinklers broke.

High pitched screams from girls and boys alike sounded as the campers were doused in beads of cold water. The fire sputtered and sizzled in contact with the mists. Then, behind the crowd and towards the wood, an image began to form in water and a voice was coming through. It was a iris message. Everyone turned and stopped all their sounds to make out the audio from the other end.

"Chiron! Chiron are you there?" The voice came hazily through static.

"Dionysus?" Chiron called, moving closer to the spray. "Dionysus, yes I am here."

"Chiron! There's little time to explain. I had to patch my voice in through Hephaestus TV to show you what has happened." There was some static to follow and an image slowly came into focus through the spraying water.

"I… I don't understand," Chiron mumbled as the campers around gasped at the sight.

In the sprinklers was an image of the Empire State Building burned to the ground. Fire trucks littered the streets around it, but the blaze burned on.

"Olympus is burning. A quake erupted from the top of Mount Olympus," Dionysus spoke hastily through the static. "We cannot access our physical forms, and we do not understand what is going on!"

"No…" Chiron muttered.

"Chiron, it's the girl, Katrina. She is the only hope we have. We don't know who she is or where she came from but she is here for a reason and we believe she may be able to save us. The doors connecting us to you have burned and we are trapped. Please, we are begging you, save us."

The audio connection was reduced to static, but the coverage of the Empire State Building remained in the air until the sprinklers were shut off as quickly as they turned on.

Once again the mob resorted to chaos. Partly from being wet and partly from the horrible news received. I stayed standing, looking off to where the image from the iris message once flashed, as I felt the blue fade from my arms and my eyes. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Chiron speak with Clarisse and Jason, but I was suddenly whisked away by Will, Percy, and Annabeth who guarded me from all sides as we pushed passed the campers.

"Jason and Clarisse are clearing everyone out and sending them back to their cabins," Annabeth relayed to me as we walked.

"We are waiting in the Big House for Chiron to come back after making sure everyone is back and safe," Will added as he gripped my arm tightly.

Percy, who walked in front of me, just glanced over his shoulder at me and kept marching forward. All I could think, was:

I'm not done yet.


	29. Chapter 29

**Hey guys,**

 **It's been a little while since I've put a chapter up. Um, but I also don't really know how you guys feel about the story. I have about 10-15 more chapters already written up. Do you guys want them all at once? Is it okay just doing a few every couple of days?**

 **I don't know. I need serious help, maybe.**

 **Anyways, Happy Reading.**

 **-c.c.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything you recognize (Riordan)**

* * *

We barged through the doors of the big house and I was led to a middle seat at the ping pong table. Annabeth passed around towels to help escape the cold of the sprinkler fiasco and Will sat beside me and Percy paced by the door. No one spoke, I think we were all trying to take it in, what had happened and what was about to happen.

It was so quiet that when Nico shadow traveled out from the corner of the room, Percy screamed and everyone jumped out of the silent trance we were in.

Nico looked strangely at Percy, who quickly turned to face the other way, and then he switched his gaze to me.

"You," Nico said with a pointed finger, "know how to get into a lot of trouble,"

I shrugged and he took a seat at the short end of the table and shook his black hair from his eyes. It wasn't long before the sound of hoofs could be heard from the other side of the door and Chiron ducked his large centaurian body through the doorway and began to ask what everyone else had most likely been thinking.

"Katrina," Chiron started, "Are you able to explain any of this?" He stood at the head of the table with arms crossed and a worried expression across his face.

I sighed a silent breath and began to sign, Percy interpreting.

 _Okay, this is what I know. Rachel was overcome with… something, what? I don't know, but it spoke prophecy that we can probably all agree was directed for me—_

" _ **See the pawn of creation return**_ ," Annabeth began to recite the rhyme,

" _ **Watch the doors of Olympus then burn,**_

 _ **One by one those who enter will fade,**_

 _ **Until only the chosen remain,**_

 _ **When the sun goes down breathing its last,**_

 _ **Rival's Daughter will rewrite their past**_."

"Well, we've just watched the doors of Olympus burn," Percy retorted, "But what is the pawn of creation? And has it already returned?"

My mind had been working on that line, and for some strange reason, I thought it was me.

But I definitely wasn't telling them that.

 _Obviously we have an issue. The gods are, at the moment powerless, and we need to restore them. That is the quest, isn't it?_ I asked expectantly.

"Katrina, what are you going to do? We have absolutely no direction." Chiron challenged. I fiercely dug through my pockets and pulled out the business card that came from the old woman on the bus. Percy saw it and began to explain.

"That's from when we went to Olympus earlier this week. We ran into Medea at a bakery—"

"You ran into who now? Medea?" Chiron asked astounded.

"Yeah and her sons and they tried to—"

"Hades, Perseus Jackson, and you didn't think that was something I should have known about?" Chiron exploded with outrage.

"Me too!" Annabeth yelled. "The hell, Percy!?"

I smacked my hand on the table and the bickering three turned to me wide-eyed. I motioned to them to shut up and listen. Thankfully they obliged and Percy continued.

"Thanks. Anyways, Medea went on and on about this Mistress lady who brought her sons back to life and how that lady wanted to meet Katrina and all of this weird stuff. But we ended up stuffing Medea in a pastry cabinet and then we ran to take the M7 back over here—"

"The M7? Really?" Will interrupted.

"Ugh, shadow travel is much faster," Nico butted in.

"They should have taken the M—"

I banged my fist against the table three times and pointed at Percy. This was extremely aggravating.

"Seriously guys?" Percy asked, and then moved on. "ANYWAYS, so we got on the bus and apparently there was this old lady that started talking to Katrina and she handed Katrina this card for that same Mistress that Medea was talking about. Except the Mistress works in a subfloor of the Empire State Building. The directions on the back say to take the last remaining staircase."

Percy looked at me and smiled.

"I think what Katrina is thinking is that this Mistress person is going to fall into a pretty key role here soon. Whether she caused this, or can help with it, we should probably go check it out," Percy finished.

 _Exactly,_ I picked up, _If the fire started at the top of the building where Olympus is at, then it is likely that any subfloors, if they exist, remain untouched. I think this quest is going to be about getting to the literal bottom of the Empire State Building and discovering what is going on._

I looked around to the assembly gathered.

 _Even if it doesn't end up fixing things, I think we need to check it out._

Chiron looked to each of the members at the table before coming back to me.

"I don't know," He picked the card off of the table and examined it, "But I think you may have quite the lead. The woman you conversed with on the bus, I expect her to be Circe in disguise. She tends to take that form to weasel in her meddling schemes."

He set the card down and paced the length of the table.

"Still, I am uncertain," He addressed me dead on, "Do you think they have found something out about your parentage, Katrina? Something to make them think you can be this kind of savior?"

My ears and face grew hot with embarrassment as I could feel every eye on me.

Percy translated my next words.

"The last she heard, she was, inconclusive? Katrina, what—"

"Percy, this does not concern you," Chiron stepped in. I looked harshly at the centaur, as he made me life just a teeny bit more difficult.

"Katrina, with what we know and have seen, I do not think I can—"

"You have to trust me!" My eyes and fists burned blue as I stood and pounded the table in resolve. "The gods are in trouble and you are content to just sit there and let them burn?! This is what I am here for, this is why I came! Don't play games with me anymore, Chiron! They had to have told you who I am and what is happening! You have to let me go." I commanded with all of the presence and authority within me.

He spoke quietly and reverently.

"They have not told me what they have told you, apparently," He walked casually away from the front of the table. My heart sunk as he turned his back to me and he stared deeply into the fireplace.

"But they have told me that they trust you, for some forsaken reason the gods each have a feeling of peace when it comes to you and what you have to offer," He turned back to me. "I have tried to ignore it, to keep my rational mind in center, but you and this feeling they've described to me is present even still."

"The gods are what keep this world together, and without them, evil has the chance to rise up," He cleared his throat and the power of camp counselor came back into his tone. "I authorize this quest given by the Oracle of Delphi, although understand strange circumstances. As per tradition you may take two others with you and pursue the lead of this Mistress in hopes of revealing more about the state of the greek gods."

I looked to Annabeth for guidance.

"With the approval of Annabeth, I'd like to take Percy and Nico with me."

At the same time there was an outraged 'What?!', a confused 'Hold on a minute', and a relieved 'Aw yeah!'.

"Katrina, what are you talking about I have to come with you," Will rushed to my side and grabbed a hold of my arm.

"Will, there's a very large chance that this is going to end badly for me and I don't want you caught up in that," I told him patiently, I began to think about what was going to happen when all of this was over. He had to be there when I got back home.

"No, no, Katrina, you can't," Will plead with me. I brushed the dark hair from his worried forehead with my aqua-marine fingertips.

"I'm not willing to lose you."

Will's eyes pooled with tears and I had to look away. My blue aura faded simultaneously, and I had to sign and ask Annabeth for an answer. She nodded solemnly.

" _Thank you_ ," I signed to her.

I looked to Chiron for final comments.

"You leave mid-morning tomorrow. Get some sleep."

With that he resided to his office and shut the door. I swiveled back to face Will and he buried his face into my shoulder, sobbing. I cried in a one small stream down my face and ran my fingers through his curly hair. Once I got him calmed down, we turned to see Percy, Annabeth, and Nico looking over expectantly.

"Kid," Nico began, "You've got a boat-load of explaining to do."

" _I know_ ," I mouthed, and began to turn away.

"NOW," Percy commanded in a tone that was all too dad-like. I sighed and Will pulled out a chair for me. I took it.

 _I'm going to try turning on my voice without having to get angry, okay?_

Percy nodded and relayed to the others what I was about to do.

I closed my eyes and breathed shallowly. I hadn't yet experimented with it yet, but now was as good a time as ever. I felt a warmth start in my lungs and I willed it to spread to the rest of my body. Slowly, the patterns appeared in my skin and when I opened my eyes, I could see in a blue tinge.

"Ready," I spoke.

"Start from the beginning," Percy said. I sighed and began.

"My name is Katrina, and I am probably 19 years old now. I don't have parents. None that I know of. I have always known I was a demigod and have trained myself like one since I was old enough to. I lived on the streets of New York City until coming to Camp Half Blood. I was led here… well, chased here. And I met all of you. I was unaware of any powers I had until attempting to take my own life by drowning. I know now I am descendant of Poseidon," I was telling them mostly truth, but I had to be careful now. They still couldn't know everything yet. "However, I was not claimed by him. He still has not claimed me yet." Percy and Annabeth looked at each other strangely, and I did not dare look behind me where Will sat. "I was sent to Olympus by the gods and Chiron to find out who I was. Another god, Athena, had mistaken me for a lost child of hers until the night at the shore when I proved to be offspring of Poseidon. At the moment, I am still inconclusive." Nico stared at me unfazed. "But I gave them information that pointed them to an issue that they were attempting to avoid."

"Which was?" Annabeth prompted me.

"Which was that things were falling out of their power. Things that we were once controlled by them and are now not," I tried not to mention the whole future thing. They weren't ready for that.

"Now don't ask me how I knew, it was just something I had grown up knowing and I knew I needed to share it," I prayed and prayed that this was enough to convince them. I had nothing more to offer. Please.

"I hope you are now satisfied."

"I'm not satisfied," Percy began, "Why couldn't we know this before hand? Why all of the secrets? BY THE WAY, I'm still not understanding any of this!"

"Yeah," Will agreed in a quiet voice from behind me.

"Because…" Ugh secrets were bad yes, yes and now I was paying for it. "Look, I am trying to be as honest as I can, but I need you all to understand something."

I looked around the room at each face.

"Can you please be open to what I am about to say?" I asked.

Each face nodded.

"For whatever reason, even I don't quite know, my existence here, with all of you, at this time, is in a fragile position," My breath hitched as I felt emotions overcome me. "From what I know, I am technically not supposed to be here or alive. I was never supposed to have met any of you like this," I stopped as my voice cracked, a new experience for me, and I felt a tear roll down the already wet patch on my cheek. "And my being here is dependent on you knowing me like this, as a fellow demigod, someone who doesn't have parents and who has no one else but herself."

Annabeth started to tear up and Nico looked down at his hands. I didn't dare look at Percy. I turned to look at Will, and stared back at me with sad and tired eyes. I was probably never meant to fall in love with him. Now what will happen when I am gone and he remains? How will I see him in my other life? Married? With someone else?

I looked away and refused to think like that. But I turned too hastily and my eyes met Percy's. All I saw was my father's face in the last iris message he sent me. Sad and hopeful eyes. Desperate to be with me. Having to see his daughter grow up in another life must have killed him inside. Now I see those same eyes in someone who has only known me for a short time.

I lost it. I stood with my mouth ajar and brightly colored tears staining my face. I shut my eyes quickly to dam the flood and I sobbed loudly. The room was filled with the horrendous sounds of sadness as I sat and let myself go.

"How can you stand to hear yourselves cry!?" I shouted loudly, the words echoed down the hallways. I've cried before, but never able to hear what it sounded like. I never wanted to hear it again, but I couldn't turn it off, my emotions were too much at that point. The room was quiet aside from me, and we sat for a short while in that way.

Then, one-by-one, I felt arms wrap around my body, steadying my shaking hands and wiping my wet face with their sleeves. When I opened my eyes, Percy, Annabeth, Will, and Nico, had surrounded me in a large hug.

Annabeth began to speak in my ear.

"We don't understand, and I don't know if we ever will, but you do have more than just yourself," she said.

"We aren't just going to ditch you because you're trying to protect yourself, Shadow Girl. Even if you have to keep some secrets," Nico solemnly chimed in.

"We can be your family, since you don't have any yet," Percy stated.

Will released himself from the group and walked around to kneel in front of me.

"We will always be here for you," he held my hands and face, forcing me to see him with my bright eyes.

"Not always," I whispered. "I won't have you forever," I shared through gritted teeth and a few more tears. Will pulled my forehead to his.

"Shhh. I will _always_ be here for you."

I nodded because it was the only thing left that I had the strength to do.

"Come on," Will started to stand, pulling me up with him as everyone left our large family hug. "We have a quest to start tomorrow and you need sleep."

"No," I grabbed his arms as he turned to the door.

"I have a quest tomorrow," I said sternly and quickly, as I felt my voice begin to leave and the markings fade, "not you."

He looked at me and then at Percy.

"You're right, but you still need sleep," I saw Percy nod from the corner of my eye and I was about to ask for an explanation, but my voice and colorful arms had vanished.

Nico punched my arm and then shadow traveled out of the room and Percy mentioned he was going to walk Annabeth back to Athena.

"I'll walk with you," Will said. I stood there looking at him, and wondered if tomorrow would be my last morning with him. He noticed my face and walked toward me. I forgot my voice was gone and I tried to tell him that I was okay but no sounds came and I couldn't move my hands to form the right words.

Instead, he just pulled me towards his chest and I obediently buried my face into his shirt. He plopped his chin on top of my head and wrapped his strong guitar-playing arms around my shoulders.

"You know, you are super intimidating when you speak like that," He said this playfully and I could tell he was smiling. I punched him in the gut for trying to make a joke and then moved back to my position in his arms. He laughed and continued despite my obvious displeasure.

"I like it, it's pretty hot."

I moved to punch him again, but I couldn't help but smile and laugh in the process.

"Hey. Let's get you to bed. You used up a bunch of energy tonight," I nodded and let him lead me out the door and across the courtyard. I opened the door to Poseidon, Percy wasn't there yet, and turned back to Will.

"Goodnight, Katrina," He said with a soft smile and the sign I taught him for goodnight. Instead of signing goodnight in response, I leaned up to him and pressed my lips onto his and silently cursed myself for not doing it more before now. He kissed me in return and he turned around to leave. I walked into room and crawled in bed, not bothering to put pajamas on, just like when I didn't own any, and fell quickly to sleep.


End file.
